Saudi Arabia’s push into pro sports was prominently featured at a White House dinner Tuesday night celebrating the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The dinner featured 150 guests, including tech titans like Elon Musk and Tim Cook, but also people with notable connections to Saudi sports, such as soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil.
From the Saudi side, there was Yasir Othman H. Al-Rumayyan, who runs Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—which owns LIV and Premier League soccer club Newcastle United. The Saudi visit was aimed at strengthening the relationship between the two countries. The White House said the two sides “finalized a series of landmark agreements,” including on economic and defense issues.
The soccer contingent makes sense—the U.S. is cohosting the 2026 World Cup, and Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup.
The appearance of Ronaldo—who makes more than $200 million annually playing for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr—was particularly notable because he reportedly hasn’t traveled to the U.S. in more than a decade. That could be due to controversy over sexual assault allegations he faced in the country: In 2019, he was sued and accused of raping a woman in Las Vegas in 2009. The suit also alleged he forced the woman to accept a $375,000 settlement and remain silent about the situation. A federal court determined the woman’s lawyer used stolen documents to help bring the suit, and in November 2023 an appeals court affirmed the lower court’s decision to dismiss the case. The attorney who represented Ronaldo in that case did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to securing the 2034 World Cup, Saudi Arabia has made waves in the world of sports through LIV and investment firm SURJ Sports. It has critics, however, who claim its recent infusion of capital into the global sports world is part of a “sportswashing” campaign to distract from its human rights record, including the fallout from the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Infantino’s presence also served as a reminder that FIFA recently announced a new award to recognize “exceptional actions for peace and unity,” an honor that is widely expected to be given to Trump.
There were other high-profile sports figures who don’t have any known direct Saudi ties, such as 76ers and Devils owner Josh Harris and Lions vice chair William Clay Ford, who is executive chair of Ford Motors. Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman was there too—Blackstone was one of the private-equity firms the NFL approved to invest in teams, although the firm ultimately chose to step away. Last year, Schwarzman pledged $15 million over a period of four years to USA Track & Field.
Even prediction markets got an apparent shoutout. Bin Salman mentioned that he had been informed there were “betting sites” where people could bet on whether he would wear a black suit. “Sorry, you lose the bet,” he said.
Polymarket, one of the primary prediction-markets platforms, does indeed have a market on whether bin Salman will wear a suit and tie “by Thursday,” meaning there’s still time to affect the market.
