The Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced it would withdraw from LIV Golf, ending weeks of speculation and insisting the fund will continue to invest internationally with sport remaining a priority. The statement was clearly intended to reassure partners and the public even as Riyadh steps back from a high-profile project it once framed as the future of golf.
Until recently, few questioned Saudi Arabia’s appetite for big-ticket sports deals. The kingdom’s spending spree has reshaped its sporting profile: marquee signings like Cristiano Ronaldo in the domestic league, a majority takeover of Newcastle United, and extensive sponsorships that widened its footprint across global sport. These moves were presented as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030—an effort to modernise the economy, boost tourism and expand domestic leisure options.
Critics have long argued those investments were also meant to burnish the kingdom’s image amid scrutiny over human rights, not least after the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But the more immediate question is whether the era of rapid, conspicuous sports spending is starting to cool.
Reports emerged early this year that
