The only similarity is that in the broadest terms, money corrupts. Money > morals. There is no doubt that applies to Lebrons handling of China. Yet, still not quite the same as getting paid direct AND betraying the league. Lebron didn’t betray the NBA. He didn’t join a CCP super league. Effectively that’s what the LIV tour is. Maybe this gives the Chinese and others some ideas to take on the NBA prestige by dumping huge sums of state money directly at players, so I guess we’ll see what happens. The investment required is likely why nobody else would do it. It’s why alternatives to the NFL invariable end up a joke. This golf league only lasts so long as the Saudi’s are willing to throw money after it, so long as it suits their purpose. Without Saudi deep pockets it all evaporates as quickly as it came about. Not sure if you know this, but Greg Norman has long had a vendetta against the PGA tour and has been trying to create a “world league” for decades. He may be pushing the Saudi’s into making questionable business decisions as part of his personal vendetta (this is actually my theory on this whole thing).
yes, people are writing it off as nothing. Let me know when there are articles left and right ripping the NBA for doing biz in china like the LIV tour has gotten.
I've been involved in the golf business for over 25 years. Very familiar with Norman's issues with the PGA tour. The money the Saudi's are throwing around are pennies to other people. They made only around 7% of Saudi Aramco public and it's the 2nd largest company in the world. Think about that. 93% of their business is private. They make Bezos and Musk look like guys who are "only" worth a million dollars. They can outlast the pga tour easily. The pga tour screwed up by not taking LIV seriously. IF they did, a lot of this wouldn't have happened. The PGA Tour then had to change their tune once defections starting happening all over the place.
There are plenty of articles ripping the NBA for doing business in China. Here is one from earlier this year. Opinion | The NBA's show of concern for human rights is just that: a show The difference right now is that the NBA's business in China has evolved over many years and the LIV tour just suddenly appeared this year. So LIV gets more press right now.
I don't care about the specifics and details y'all are posting about. I care about one thing - My primary interest in golf were the 4 PGA majors, I enjoyed watching the last couple of rounds on the weekend. I WAS, a big Phil Mickelson fan, now he makes me want to puke. The guy is well past his prime and has made a decision to destroy his legacy and reputation for money. The guy has made more money than most professional athletes in his career. Huge money. I guess his gambling idiocy is a motivation. Or maybe he was always a jerk in disguise. Let's be clear - Forget about Koshogi- y'all may recall 22 of the 25 9/11 assholes were Saudi. GO TO HELL PHIL
LOL. I like the "so LIV gets more press right now" angle. NBA's business has evolved? Did China stop having slaves? Do they pay a living wage? You can't honestly believe that. Way to find one article ripping the nba. Now do a quick search for LIV tour articles ripping the league/players. Lynch: LIV Golf’s unspoken secret — players are ripping off the Saudis Phil Mickelson, other LIV Golf players ripped by 9/11 group US analysts tear LIV Golf players to shreds - bunkered.co.uk LIV Golf players continue to face questions about Saudi-backed venture Saudi Arabia Astroturfs the Golf Course
Typical crap from you. There are many articles ripping the NBA, going back years. Intelligent people understand how the news media works. Recency matters. There's were tons of articles ripping US corporations for sponsoring the winter Olympics in China. That's because it was a current event. The LIV is making more news right now because it's current. If the NBA were to suddenly amp up its investment in China by creating a new league there, it would get tons of critical news coverage. Everyone seems to understand how the news media works but you.
What happened the last time someone from the NBA criticized China? China turned off the NBA in China and it cost the NBA millions of dollars. Next thing you know the NBA decided to shut up and dribble. All because of money. There weren't "tons" of articles ripping the NBA. They main player in sports(ESPN) didn't address the China/NBA issue. Wonder why? ESPN Once Again Caught in Political Talk Controversy: Traina Thoughts
It's worse than that. This is a pretty serious threat to the long term future of the PGA. They didn't take it serious enough and now they're getting rocked. Rumors of more stars heading that way are incredibley loud, inuding the guy who just won the British last weekend
The DOJ is reportedly investigating the Tour for antitrust violations, but I’m not sure how we can turn a blind eye to what KSA is doing. How is it fair for a foreign country to disrupt American businesses by using state resources to operate at an astronomical loss? How is the Tour, which has no state backing, supposed to compete with that?
Eh, too bad for the PGA, IMO. I am no fan of SA and certainly not their psychopath crown prince, but don’t know why they can’t pay people outrageous dough to play basically exhibitions. They have that ludicrous wealth largely because the US has agreed to be their asswipes in exchange for chasing other extravagance. I don’t even blame the players. I personally would be more than content forever with Mickelson money, that he has made via the PGA, and prolly even more directly by pure luck of being around while Tiger blew that whole venture into orbit, but that’s me. The moral quandary is not lost on me. But in the end it’s a useless game that only exists because parts of the world have succeeded in making uselessness valuable. I could also argue that the $250M they give to Phil could just as well be going to bombing civilians in Yemen. I guess it’s better with Phil. And if this silly ploy succeeds in gaining them respect and prestige from the world, then I blame the world for being that shallow. Freaking GOLF??
Hypocrisy as usual, a crapload of PGA sponsers do business with the saudi's. LIV isn't on tv and PGA just signed a huge tv deal... for 14 tournaments a year, huge over reaction on their part.
Quite the rant for someone who apparently hates the sport. It’s a tough game for sure and not for everyone. As far as the PGA goes, they’ve raised billions for charity so they aren’t completely useless. Let’s see if LIV has the same impact on communities.
I read the DOJ investigated the PGA for something basically identical in the 80s and the PGA was cleared. So I assume the PGA is comfortable with at least that aspect of this.
Yeah. In my mind, it would be problematic if the Tour tried to legally prevent the players from joining LIV through a non-compete. But that's not what's happening. They're just saying, if you go, that's fine, but we're not going to employ you while you're working for a direct competitor. That seems pretty typical of most businesses.
The main distinction I see is that LIV is basically funded by the Saudi government, just like the entity that bought Newcastle in the Premier League. While the NBA and PGA are certainly examples of American soft power, they don't have as direct a connection to the US government and its policies. That's typically the distinction people make when it comes to "sports washing." But I would certainly take someone's point that the distinction is not all that meaningful, even less so when the official stance of the US government is to sell the Saudis military equipment and overlook human rights abuses in hopes they keep the gas flowing to the global market to keep those prices down. Its hard to ask Phil Mickelson to be more ethical than the US government.
