Saudi’s Ambitions are much Bigger than Golf

· Saudi-backed LIV Golf league merged with the PGA Tour. Pro golf will now be synonymous with a new joint venture bankrolled by the Saudi government’s massive piggy bank, the $650 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF).

· Vision 2030, an effort by the country’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (aka “MBS”), to diversify its fossil fuel-dependent economy.

· The kingdom is reportedly eyeing investments in boxing and cricket. Meanwhile, some speculate it could come for the NBA (which recently allowed sovereign fund investments) or even the NFL (which currently forbids foreign ownership).

· Saudi is hosting an Andy Warhol exhibition in the desert this year

The oil-rich kingdom is splurging to style itself as the ultimate hub for elite sports, world-class art, and luxury leisure.

The Gulf State became the Golf State this week as the Saudi-backed LIV Golf league merged with the PGA Tour. Pro golf will now be synonymous with a new joint venture bankrolled by the Saudi government’s massive piggy bank, the $650 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF).

But what amounts to a purchase of an entire sport is not a one-off impulse buy: The oil-rich kingdom is splurging to style itself as the ultimate hub for elite sports, world-class art, and luxury leisure.

All these investments are part of Vision 2030, an effort by the country’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (aka “MBS”), to diversify its fossil fuel-dependent economy. And a major prong of the plan is convincing the world that Saudi is no longer an ultraconservative theocracy.

Where’s all the cash going?

Most notably, Saudi is going all-out to achieve sports superpower status.

Cristiano Ronaldo is already scoring for Al Nassr FC in Riyadh, while legendary French striker Karim Benzema recently announced he’d also join the Saudi Pro League.

Beginning in 2021, Formula 1 stars started competing annually at a state-of-the-art racetrack in Jeddah for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

And it wants more: The kingdom is reportedly eyeing investments in boxing and cricket. Meanwhile, some speculate it could come for the NBA (which recently allowed sovereign fund investments) or even the NFL (which currently forbids foreign ownership).

It’s not neglecting the arts either: Saudi is hosting an Andy Warhol exhibition in the desert this year, and plans to build a contemporary art museum in partnership with the world-renowned Paris-based Centre Pompidou.

Both cinemas and music festivals were banned there until 2017, but last year it hosted the star-studded Red Sea International Film Festival featuring some LGBTQ programming (while it still outlaws homosexuality). The same month, Post Malone and Bruno Mars performed in front of raving crowds at the Soundstorm music festival.

But it remains to be seen if the image rehab will work

Experts say that the glamour of its cultural calendar is meant to distract from the fact that Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with abysmal women’s rights, virtually non-existent religious freedom, and troublesome labor practices that one human rights advocate described as “modern-day slavery.”

The entertainment glow up is intended to appease critics at home and abroad. It is a way to buy the loyalty of the nation’s youth. It is a social contract between MBS and Saudis, which Hamdi calls “a simple one: ‘I will let you party… I’ll let you wear a bikini on a beach. But in exchange, you will not ask me for civil rights.’”

Foreigners might still be wary

For companies doing business in Saudi Arabia, Hamdi warns that besides the obvious reputational risk, there are also issues with transparency and the rule of law. He says that for companies starting projects there, “the position of their [local business] partner within the political structure of Saudi Arabia” means more than official regulations.

And even all those billions might not convince elites Saudi Arabia is truly the place to be. It’s rumored that Lionel Messi’s wife’s reluctance to move to a country that only recently allowed women to drive was a factor in his decision to reject an eye-popping offer from a Saudi team.

Looking ahead…despite the kingdom’s apparently bottomless pockets, it might eventually run out of cash for shiny-toy projects. Yale School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld pointed out that the price of oil (its main export) has declined and that some of MBS’s other big investments haven’t panned out.