Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

LogieBerra_5 t1_j9rpbqj wrote

Reply to comment by buckleyk12 in 'LIV has to get stronger - or it will disappear' by rejs7

Well said. To piggyback off of that, do most people watch golf for the competition and history or are they watching it for the elements that LIV is incorporating? Said differently in a basketball reference... the Harlem Globetrotters are incredibly talented and fun to watch, but it will never be in the same league as the NBA. Doesn't mean it will fail, just may mean the Saudi's overpaid for a sports venture

57

bimbles_ap t1_j9sbra8 wrote

The Saudis are paying to try and "sport wash" their culture and try to have people forget their atrocities. Same reason the World Cup was in Qatar.

69

tayroarsmash t1_j9t0syh wrote

It’s also a diversification strategy as oil seems to be on a clock.

14

rumpel_foreskin17 t1_j9uf2ze wrote

Those fuckers have enough money to live 100,000 lifetimes over, they’ll be fine.

2

tayroarsmash t1_j9ul0lf wrote

Oh trust me I’m in no way worried about the oligarchy of Saudi Arabia I just watched a thing where the guy representing them in the video gave diversification to future proof their wealth was a big reason for these new ventures.

5

rumpel_foreskin17 t1_j9v1omr wrote

For sure. They may have hit the geographical jackpot but they’re not stupid. Diversification of wealth is smart whether it’s your $500 rainy day fund or your $100,000,000,000 oil monopoly.

1

TallDuckandHandsome t1_ja0j3pl wrote

You can add at least another zero to that, which may not seem like a big difference, but also, it's an extra 900 billion

2

cobaltnick37 t1_j9uuzbi wrote

They will. But greed never ends, especially for the richest

2

jarpio t1_j9uwpg3 wrote

Yeah the rich humans do. But KSA is still a country with people and an economy. You still need to be able to generate wealth in your country. National economies don’t get to just retire (though the Japanese may disagree) Otherwise you become a failed state. And when you’re a monarch in a failed state, your life expectancy generally goes down.

So no those fuckers won’t be fine if they can’t diversify away from a fossil fuel based economy at least a little bit. The individual fuckers with the yachts will be fine but the country will not be. And the yacht fuckers don’t get to live forever. Eventually they die and their kids die and the money goes away.

2

KanyeWestBrick t1_j9twy7s wrote

Seems like it did the opposite. All I think about when I think of LIV is Saudi

10

caveyh96 t1_j9td5wv wrote

I don''t ever go for that sports washing. It doesn't work and shines more light on the issues. I think it is more they are a individually wealthy nation that are looking to diversify their interests

8

bimbles_ap t1_j9trbw1 wrote

The people that do actively care about those issues won't be fooled. The ones who passively care will be easily distracted.

If they really wanted to diversify their interests why not build up grass roots programs and be competitive before trying to invite the world?

5

caveyh96 t1_j9u21xd wrote

But I wasn't fooled and it isn't something I overly take much notice in. Look if anything it actively harms the country due to the spotlight.

Because I think the interest in their countries isn't always their. It could be that by having these massive events builds the interest they can then build from.

I could well be wrong but from everything I see sports washing doesn't work.

0

bimbles_ap t1_j9u4ua5 wrote

It's not really working because it's clear how much money they're throwing around. If we didn't know about some of the top golfers being paid 9 figures to join it'd be a different story. And the corruption within FIFA isn't exactly a secret anymore either.

When Russia hosted the Olympics the story became the games for a period and the Crimea story was put on the back burner. Russia waiting to invade Ukraine until after the Beijing games was likely orchestrated as well.

It doesn't work on everyone, but most people really only follow major news cycles. And when a sporting event is big enough it'll tend to dominate the news and the other things about that country becomes a footnote.

1

jrakosi t1_j9tkzhm wrote

And why Saudi is trying their best to get the next world cup bid...

2

Raskputin t1_j9uts2x wrote

As an avid golfer, I don’t watch it much except for the classic events like US/British open, the masters and maybe a couple others. Couldn’t be bothered to watch LIV and while there are definitely some political grievances for why, it could be run by Norway and I’d still be meh.

3