PGA + LIV= The Moral Collapse of Sport, not just Golf

[Stavros]

It must be bad if the Telegraph attacks LIV. Money great, outcome poor. They need the rising stars not the fallen.

Not even Greg Norman’s hysterical hubris can hide LIV’s collapse into periphery (msn.com)

[Stavros]

The art of Snooker is in the ability to pot balls, but also to leave the white and a colour in a position that the opponent cannot play directly, potentially (because there are some amazing players in the game) or actually leading to a foul stroke and an advantage to the other.

Or the art of Snooker could be re-defined by the amount of money on and off the table, as, yet again, the Champions of Freedom in...er...Saudi Arabia bid to rescue Snooker from the decrepit and tiny (if atmospheric) Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and re-locate the biggest tournaments, and new ones, to Riyadh, that gorgeous desert town on everyone's bucket list. Once there was the Crucible, coming next from MbS, the Runcible.

In addition to the fabulous prize money, accessible by the ageing cohort of snooker players who mostly don't speak Mandarin, or Arabic for that matter, there will be a 'Golden Ball', because clearing the table for a maximum 147 is no longer going to be the Summit of Achievement. You get to that summit, only to find a golden ball on the table with an extra 20 points.

Trust the Saudis to, as it were, 'top that', as in Snooker, given they already top felons every week in public. Oh, and if there are any female referees in the sport they won't be welcome in Riyadh, that includes the much respected Desislava Vasileva Bozhilova, who presumably won't be invited because they can't pronounce her name, not even when translated into Arabic. Just say 'min asaf, Binti, only men allowed'.

So the Crucible has room for 950 spectators, but while the tv audience worldwide is numbered in millions, Barry Hearn and his Once We Were Bedouin buddies has visions, defined by superstar millionaire Ronnie O'Sullivan-

"“I think Saudi Arabia could get hold of this tournament, grab it by the scruff of the neck and turn it into a Wimbledon or a French Open or US Open, and really make it a super event,” ".
World Snooker Championship: Saudi shadow looms large over Crucible | World Snooker Championship | The Guardian

Oh dear, Ronnie. Where was the largest audience for a snooker match of world class? Yep, you guessed it, Hong Kong -9,000 for the Hong Kong Masters in 2022.
2022 Hong Kong Masters - Wikipedia

Here's a thought: Maybe the Brothers Hearn can match up MbS with the People's Xi and rain, or piss money onto a sport that has more followers in China than there are camels in the Empty Quarter.

Coz it's all about the money, innit?

[Stavros]

And Tennis too

"Along with the WTA Finals, Saudi Arabia has already been awarded the Next Gen ATP Finals, the season-ending event for the best under-21 players in the world, while making very clear its ambition to stage a Masters 1,000."
Tennis: ATP, WTA & Grand Slams and in Premium Tour talks but what role will Saudi Arabia play? - BBC Sport

[Stavros]

Is this about football or money?

"FIFA moved Wednesday toward ending decades of soccer tradition by reviewing the rules that currently block domestic league games being played in other countries.Fans are likely to object to their teams' home matches potentially being moved thousands of miles (kilometers) away.
The United States and Saudi Arabia are expected to be willing hosts to lure competitive games from top European countries, and FIFA recently agreed to withdraw from an ongoing court case in New York filed by promoter Relevent to challenge the policy.
The new FIFA policy will likely be attractive to the growing number of international owners of European clubs, including the wave of U.S. investors in the English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1, and state-backed teams like Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City, Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain and Saudi-owned Newcastle.
FIFA is now creating a panel of 10-15 people representing soccer stakeholders to advise within months on amending the rules on so-called “out-of-territory” games. The rules were last amended in 2014."
FIFA moves toward ending soccer tradition and letting league games be staged in other countries (spectrumnews1.com)

So a Premier League game between Manchester City and Manchester United could be played in Dubai?
Or Newcastle play against Arsenal in Riyadh?
Coventry could play Burnley in Munich, innit?

Follow the money, as usual. As for the fans -they will pay, won't they? Or just watch it on pay-per-view telly.