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).

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Extra: What Is Sportswashing — and Does It Work? (Update)