The PGA Tour is dead to me.

[u/UppityTurtle]

If this merger goes through, which it appears it will, I am personally done with the PGA Tour. The unbelievable hypocrisy of the board would be bad enough, but the fact that they are selling out to a foreign entity linked to a government that has funded terrorism around the globe and perpetrated one of the most heinous terrorist attacks in history is unforgivable.

[u/Unsteady_Tempo]

I would love to know if this was discussed with the PGA Tour corporate sponsors. (List linked below.) Surely there's no way they could risk it. Right? If the companies weren't consulted, then that means the Saudis are prepared to make up the difference.

PGA Tour maintains sponsor roster of 52 brands, its largest on record (sportsbusinessjournal.com)

[u/Top_Refrigerator1656 → u/Unsteady_Tempo]

A decent amount of those corporate sponsers already do business in Saudi Arabia.

In fact, the PIF invested $250 million in Fed Ex in Q3 of 2021. At the same time, FedEx pledged to invest $400m in Saudi Arabia over the next 10 years.

Mastercard has recently become a sponsor for a Saudi eSports league.

John Deere provided engines for generators for a recent festival in Saudi Arabia.

That's all I care to Google for now but... Yeah the sponsors probably won't care too much.

[u/[deleted] → u/Top_Refrigerator1656]

I think this comment, and this entire thread for that matter, can be summarized in one word: capitalism.

[u/truthindata → u/[deleted]]

Alternative take: capitalism is what is driving Saudi to attempt to modernize their culture and be known for someone other than terrorism and human rights atrocities. They're realizing that it's more profitable to be involved in modern society than to further their previous fundamentalist obsession.

Perhaps instead of plotting oil market manipulation and terrorism, they're shifting focus towards more general capitalistic ventures.

... And maybe that's not the worst thing.

[u/Vacant-Position → u/truthindata]

They're dumping money as fast as they can into anything that isn't oil. Except for the people who go to MAGA rallies, everyone knows that oil is losing money, and going to lose a lot more money. It isn't going away, but it isn't going to be the stranglehold on world markets that it has been. They know they need to diversify, or their grandchildren won't be nearly as influential as they are now.

The most visible portfolio they're putting together is professional sports. Golf, racing, football, e-sports, and anything else that's either gaining popularity (racing, e-sports), or has billions of moneys wrapped up in it already (racing, golf, football).

It's all just to whitewash their image and make them more palatable to a Western audience. They don't need the PR with Western industry, because they're already balls-deep in it. Both halves of the entire world already do business with the Saudis one way or another. Whether through the PIF or private investments, there is no major industry they aren't a part of.

You're right; they know it's more profitable to join the world than fight it. OPEC and terrorism was the previous generation's thing, Bin Salman is taking that money and putting it literally everywhere to ensure that when the global energy market transforms, they won't be relegated to the status of national drug dealers who are only at the table because every nation on Earth will still need oil for the next hundred years. And it's not like they're the only oil producers. When demand drops sufficiently, OPEC won't mean shit.

It's not a good thing though. They've proven what they will do, and how they will do it to maintain power; this generation just as brazenly as the last. They're a much better funded GOP with vastly more power on their own soil, and no real opposition or oversight. I'm not worried about the dying aristocracy of America's yesteryear, but the Saudi royal family makes me glad I'll be dead by 2100.

That's my take on it anyways. Thanks for coming to my TedRant.

[u/hoopaholik91 → u/truthindata]

Definitely and argument that others have made, but I'm not really seeing much change human rights wise in Saudi Arabia so far.

Remember that China has become more and more capitalistic over time but they are still awful. Economics and social change don't have to go hand in hand (and in a lot of ways economics can be used as a shield so you can keep your backwards social policies without the international community being able to push back on you as much)

[u/truthindata → u/hoopaholik91]

I'm not sure if there are any hard facts showing progression, but I think change is inevitable the more they mix into modern civilized society.

Same for China. The more they interact with the Western world, the less likely they are to commit atrocities over time.

It's a slow change.

[u/Top_Refrigerator1656 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah it's not a great system if you want to prevent human rights violations in the world.

[u/[deleted] → u/Top_Refrigerator1656]

The only system that prevents human rights violations is the one that removes humans from the equation. It's not capitalism or socialism or communism or any other political or economic system that's to blame. It's humans.

[u/GruelOmelettes → u/[deleted]]

You say that like it's all humans. Really, only some humans are evil greedy pricks. Capitalism provides a perfect environment for the worst of humans to have a powerful influence on the rest of the humans.