International Insider: Saudi Retreat; Scaling Up In Spain; Lunch With Jeff Pope

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Saudi Retreat

Less washing: The actions of nations like Saudi Arabia led terms such as “sportswashing” and “culturewashing” to enter the lexicon, but now the Gulf state appears to be in something of a funding retreat. Reports that Saudi Arabia‘s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will stop financing the LIV Golf Tour shook up the world of sport earlier this week, and these reports were effectively confirmed yesterday afternoon. For those unfamiliar, LIV was a controversial, multi-billion dollar rival to the established PGA tour, featuring famous players including Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson. Saudi Arabia’s removal of funds has unsurprisingly thrown its future into doubt, although organizers insist they can find new backing and are seeking “secure long-term financial partners.” Fox and TNT Sports, the U.S. and European rights holders respectively, will certainly hope so. The move feels reflective of the state of things. There was a time when Saudi was shelling big bucks on major cultural projects and institutions. One noteworthy example was the $150M epic Desert Warrior, which finally landed in cinemas last week. Desert Warrior has suffered bruising headlines based on its performance in America, where it has grossed $596,000 to date, and been billed as one of the biggest box office flops in history. These struggles will likely do nothing to restore Saudi faith in cultural investment. We wrote 18 months ago about Desert Warrior’s journey to the big screen, which began right at the start of this decade. We may not be seeing another of its ilk for a little while.

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LIV Golf Seeks "Secure Long-Term Financial Partners" With Saudi Arabia Set To End Funding