david m kimi'm not entirely sure i know where this train of thought is going but it feels like the money saudis are trying to throw at sports leagues is the last money in? it's not really clear on what basis these sports teams and leagues are actually valued but one obvious measure is whatever the next guy pays for a slice of the action. whatever that last guy pays for a team is the comparable basis for another team's value. the sums of money the saudis (and, i guess, oil funds in general?) are trying to dump on sports are so astronomically high that it's hard to think there are others who would be willing to, or even can, pay that much. and if there are no other billionaires or sovereign wealth funds that want to or can buy, then what's the saudi exit strategy?
maybe there is none ... and maybe they're not even looking for a financial return? (i mean, we hear about owners complaining about how much cash they have to sink into running a team that they don't or barely make operating profits, which tend to not matter because they end up selling the team for billions more than they paid.) then how bad is the outlook for oil that instead of investing in their primary business they are willing to throw bad money after good into sports where you probably won't reap the profits based on the cost basis going in? how desperate are you to try to make this tourism thing happen for a place that consistently tops 110F in the summer? and how expensive is sports about to get for the rest of us at these valuations?