Saudi Arabia has poured money into various sports investments to diversify its economy away from oil and gas exports. On location in Newcastle, home of Saudi Arabia’s Newcastle United Football Club, we examine what this spending splurge means for the kingdom’s economy and why its growing presence in sport is proving so controversial.
Saudi soccer clubs spent more than $1 billion on new players in the summer of 2023, snapping up superstars from all of Europe’s top leagues, while the Public Investment Fund, its sovereign wealth fund, also took control of English Premier League club Newcastle United .
The PIF, with an estimated fortune of around $700 billion, has also demonstrated its financial strengths in golf, tennis, boxing and motorsports, to name a few, as well as a number of music and entertainment companies. These investments are all part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 program, an ambitious plan to diversify the country’s economy away from its traditional reliance on oil and gas exports.
Saudi Arabia’s growing presence in sports and entertainment around the world has led to accusations of “sportswashing.” Critics claim the regime is using sport to launder its international reputation amid a dismal human rights record.
In a recent interview, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto leader and architect of Vision 2030, said he would be happy to play sports if it would boost the kingdom’s GDP.
But what role does this sporting spending spree play in the kingdom’s efforts to secure its economic future, and will it work?
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