Extra: What Is Sportswashing — and Does It Work? (Update)
01:05:17 Share

In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf league that’s challenging the PGA Tour. Can a sporting event really repair a country’s reputation — or will it trigger the dreaded Streisand Effect? Also: why the major U.S. sports leagues are warming up to the idea of foreign investment.

• SOURCES:

• Jodi Balsam), professor of clinical law at Brooklyn Law School.

• Brandel Chamblee), Golf Channel analyst.

• Karen Crouse), sports journalist.

• Bomani Jones), sports journalist.

• Victor Matheson), professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross.

• Alan Shipnuck), sports journalist.

• RESOURCES:

• "The New N.F.L. Owners?)" by Lauren Hirsch, Kevin Draper, Michael J. de la Merced and Sarah Kessler (*The New York Times, *2024).

• "PGA Tour Raises $1.5 Billion From Group of U.S. Investors)," by Lauren Hirsch (*The New York Times, *2024).

• "PGA Tour, LIV Golf Agree to Merge)," by Andrew Beaton and Louise Radnofsky (*The Wall Street Journal, *2023).

• Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar), by Alan Shipnuck (2022).

• "Dustin Johnson Paid £100m to Perform Late U-Turn and Join Saudi-Backed Rebel Series)," by By James Corrigan and Tom Morgan (The Telegraph, 2022).

• "Russia Was the Hottest Place in Sports. Now It’s Frozen Out)," by Joshua Robinson, Ben Cohen, and Louise Radnofsky (The Wall Street Journal, 2022).

• "Could This Be the Year ‘Sportwashing’ Backfires?)" by Andrés Martinez (The Los Angeles Times, 2022).

• "The Truth About Phil and Saudi Arabia)," by Alan Shipnuck (The Fire Pit Collective, 2022).

• The New Yale Book of Quotations), by Fred Shapiro (2021).

• "The Surprising Reason That There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America)," by Myles Karp (Vice, 2018).

• EXTRAS:

• "Greg Norman Takes On the P.G.A. Tour)," by *People I (Mostly) Admire *(2023).