Rory McIlroy has spoken about ownership of Newcastle United, LIV Golf and Saudi PIF.
The Manchester United fan compares what happened in the two sports.
Newcastle United now has a 15% minority stake through the Reuben family, while the Saudi PIF majority owns 85%.
While when it comes to LIV Golf, the Saudi PIF has already invested billions in creating a rival to the PSG Tour, which has been compared to investing hundreds of millions in buying and running Newcastle United.
Rory McIlroy tells it Stick to football podcast: “The Saudi PIF have spent billions on LIV… and then I look at what they did with Newcastle United. There are financial rules around football… so it’s not like they can just spend five billion.” [pounds]but in golf they could. I just think about what they’ve done in Newcastle, and I’d say they’ve done a great job, from where Newcastle United were to where they are now… I think if they had approached golf in a similar way we wouldn’t be at this point.”
The Reubens and the Saudi PIF got a real bargain with Newcastle United, buying it from Mike Ashley for a steal of £305 million when Mike Ashley panicked and agreed to sell the club, after being forced to give away over 10,000 free season tickets to fill large areas with empty seats, after thousands upon thousands of season ticket holders boycotted in protest at his management of the club.
Newcastle United’s owners could already sell the club for a significant profit, but given what has happened elsewhere in the Premier League, if they do well, NUFC could see its valuation soar in the coming years.
With LIV Golf, however, it has been a disaster for Saudi PIF because it gets so little in return for the billions already invested in the project.
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