Major sports investments from entire countries aren’t just about laundering jerseys.
Sportswashing is an attempt to fix a country’s tarnished political reputation by investing great sums of money into entertainment. It happened in 1936, when Germany hosted the Olympics in Berlin. Russia and China have also hosted many Olympic Games, such as the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow, the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, along with the 2014 summer and 2022 winter Olympics in Beijing.
This is only one microscopic strand of the history of sportswashing, as many countries have invested great amounts into some type of sporting event amid humanitarian rights violations. Recently, there have been many purchases originating from a handful of wealthy countries in the Middle East.
Just last year, Qatar hosted the FIFA World Cup. On Oct. 31, it was declared that Saudi Arabia will host it in 2034. These are both examples of one way to sportswash: to host an event, in spite of their poor reputations for civil rights. This attracts tourists from around the world to come visit the country and receive hospitality.
Just a few weeks ago, Saudi Arabia hosted one of the greatest boxing events of this century so far: Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou. It was fought in the newly constructed Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, which is set to be the new home of Al-Hilal F.C., the team that just signed soccer phenomenon Neymar Jr. to a two-year, up to USD $400 million contract.
“The viability makes sense, but now they’re trying to put their money where their mouth is and trying to get these sporting teams to come to them,” Montreal-based sports reporter Marco D’Amico said in an interview with The Concordian.
Unless the sport is taken into global interest, however, there isn’t a large chance that a country will put itself in the spotlight. For example, as North America’s top four sports (baseball, football, basketball and hockey) have tried to expand globally, it isn’t very marketable around the world. But, there is always an opportunity to make a couple bucks here and there.
This past July, the government of Qatar made an investment to take a minority stake of 5 per cent in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the NBA’s Washington Wizards, NHL’s Washington Capitals and WNBA’s Washington Mystics. The valuation for the entire company was placed at $4.05 billion.* Is this only a business investment for these buyers?
“The more interest you have, the higher bidding wars will be when they’re made available,” D’Amico explained. “I mean you just have to look at the sale of 10 per cent of the Montreal Canadiens brought to the owner of the Ottawa Senators.”
Michael Andlauer, who bought the Ottawa Senators last September, had made a 500 per cent return on investment after selling his share of the Canadiens at CAD $2.5 billion enterprise value.
“That’s a pretty good outcome in my opinion. If you can make that kind of money at an accrued rate today, I don’t doubt that Saudi Arabia and Qatar and other international investors are going to get involved,” D’Amico said.
The business aspect of sports shows that entertainment is an easy way to make profit. But it is also a way to fix wrongdoings by diverting attention, like jangling keys in front of a baby.
*Correction issued. Previously displayed as “Qatar invested just over USD $4.05 billion for 5 per cent of Monumental Sports & Entertainment”. Updated on Dec. 4.
