By Patrick F. Cannon
In one of the great about-faces in recent sports history, the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA), specifically its subsidiary PGA Tour, has entered into an arrangement with the Saudi Arabia Sovereign Wealth Fund to merge its tour with LIV (the Roman numeral for 54, the number of holes in its tournaments), the tour the Saudis organized to compete with the PGA.
With unlimited funds, LIV had lured some PGA members away by paying them huge upfront bonuses. It was reported that an aging Phil Mickelson, known to be a heavy gambler, received no less than $200 million to turn his coat. Amusingly, Phil did call his benefactors “scary MFers,” presumably because Saudi Arabia’s de-facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, had almost certainly ordered the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi who had dared to criticize him and his regime.
Salman is laughingly called a reformer because women can now get a driver’s license in the desert kingdom. This gives them the right to drive to the many public executions that are such a feature of Saudi justice. Perhaps they can also watch as the odd hand is chopped off, maybe with the other three wives they share their husband (whom they must obey in most matters).
The Sovereign Wealth Fund has been seeking this and other opportunities to invest in sports in what has come to be called “sportswashing.” Investments have been made in football (soccer to us), Formula 1 auto racing, boxing, the WWE, and – I kid you not – cricket. Perhaps the sport the Middle Eastern rulers have been involved with the longest is Thoroughbred racing, and the breeding of its participants.
The leader here has been and continues to be Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. He is the ruler of Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates, for which he serves as prime minister. While a student at Cambridge in England, he began attending the races and became a fan. His family owns Dubai and its oil, so he was able to get into the racing and breeding business at the top. Since he was willing to bid for the best-bred horses against a then-dominant syndicate of English and Irish owners at American auctions in the 1980s, particularly the produce of dominant sire Northern Dancer and his sons, he was able eventually to begin breeding his own horses.
Last year, his operation, called Godolphin after one of the three foundation Thoroughbred sires, led both the owners and breeders lists in the United States. In addition to this country, Godolphin has similar operations in Great Britain, Ireland, France, Australia and Japan. He also built a race track at home, which hosts the Dubai World Cup ($12 million purse) and associated races with purses totaling $30.5 million. Not to be outdone, the Saudis now host the Saudi Cup, which has a purse of $20 million!
Held in February and March, these meets have effectively destroyed major winter racing in this country, since I’m not aware of any American owners who can resist the Middle Eastern dough, regardless of the dismal human rights records of their smiling hosts. The legendary Santa Anita Handicap now can only attract horses not quite good enough to ship to the desert kingdoms.
If you read equine industry publications, you would not be unduly reminded of the unpleasantness behind the wealth of your benefactors. You would be more likely to hear what a nice chap Sheikh Mohammed is, and how generously he treats his employees. The fact that he had to kidnap his own daughter after she tried to escape his clutches is never mentioned, nor is how Dubai treated the foreign workers who created a modern city to lure big-spending tourists.
Many of the PGA golfers who supported the PGA Tour in its struggle with LIV have felt betrayed. The Irishman Rory McElroy was a leader in defending the PGA Tour, and has said he was blindsided and appalled by the merger. But like the Thoroughbred breeders in Kentucky, he’ll have to get used to dealing with autocrats. After all, the money’s really good.
Copyright 2023, Patrick F. Cannon
cannonnadedotcom 
The moral of the story (if it has one) is, if you are going to play hardball, you need to think big. Compared to the Saudis, the Bidens are penny ante crooks. They sold out their country for just a few million, peanuts. Somehow the righteous posturing of the PGA strikes me as a vain attempt to save a shred of face. They could have turned down the money had they truly believed it was the right thing to do. Of course, had they done so they would have looked like saps. But that’s the price you sometimes pay for principles. Give the Saudis some credit. They beat the US big dogs at their own game, and they don’t seem to feel the least bit guilty about it.
Professional sports, and to a growing extent amateur sports as well, have become little besides big money entertainment. I long ago lost interest in the NBA, NFL and MLB. The bulk of their remaining fans seems to be gamblers. Even hero Peyton Manning and his doofus brother are making pitches for gambling syndicates (Caesar’s in this case). Sports used to impart life lessons of courage, sacrifice, grit, endurance, victory and character in the face of defeat. Now it’s about cashing in. Colts star running back Johnathan Taylor, in a contract dispute, was on the radio this morning explaining in heartfelt terms how, when he first signed with the club as a rookie, he always thought of finishing his career as a Colt. Yeah, sure, if the price is right. No coincidence that the TV show by that name is one of the longest running game shows in US television history, now in its 51st season. Come on down, PGA!
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What did you use to say? Money Talks, nobody walks!
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Just bring it, we’ll ring it. Charlie Greer was the radio announcer who did the Denison Clothes ads on WABC. The store in Union NJ was open all night (till 5 am) and you could hear these ads as you drove in your car. They are classics of advertising. I think he made them up himself. You can read his transcripts and his little rhymes here
Click to access Charlie%20Greer%20-%20Denison%20Clothes%20spot%20scripts%20WABC.pdf
Some buddies and I drove out there one night. As soon as I entered the store a salesman grabbed me and put me in a sports jacket. Somehow I escaped without buying an entire wardrobe, probaby because I didnt have any money to talk, so I had to walk.
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And they want to do away with AM radio in cars. What next?
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