Is Saudi Arabia buying an NFL team? Mike Florio details possible blockbuster investment
Pro Football Talk host Mike Florio recently opened up about the possibility of Saudi Arabia making efforts to have their NFL team.
He mentioned the potential scenario after LIV Golf agreed to merge with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. The veteran media personality also remembered how NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell changed his stance on legalizing sports betting.
Florio said in a video (Profootballtalk):
"There's no way to reconcile what he said before and what he has said since. What's the big difference? It's the money. Money changes attitudes like nothing else. Someone explained to the Commissioner how much money they stand to make from whatever revenue stream they can craft.
"They had these sportsbook partnerships. They made data available. They're making money after money after money. So, now they love gambling. They hated it, now they love it."
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) has $620 billion worth of assets, which includes major sports properties. They have turned what was predominantly oil money into investments in Newcastle United, Formula 1 and the world's richest horse race.
Meanwhile, the PIF-backed LIV Golf have a prize fund of $405 million. It has the financial resources to sign top-tier golfers like Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson.
Florio added:
"The PGA Tour hated LIV Golf, and fought LIV Golf, and pushed the whole idea that the Saudis were involved in financing 9/11. They embraced that as a way to deflect and win in the court of public opinion.
"But you know what happens. Eventually, they put enough money on the table that not only can you refuse it, but you are willing to look like a hypocrite for all the things you said in the past."
Saudi Arabia's riches also played a hand in convincing football legend Cristiano Ronaldo to play for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr. He's under contract until 2025 and could earn up to $214 million annually. That amount includes $96 million in annual guaranteed salary.
The NFL's rules say that foreign nationals cannot control franchise owners. However, given the Public Investment Fund's expanding wealth, that provision could be challenged.
If that doesn't happen, Florio sees the possibility of creating a rival football league using the Public Investment Fund. Florio ended his argument:
"Even though NFL rules currently prohibit foreign investments, once they put enough money on the table, baby, they're buying a team. They pay some sort of a waiver fee to all the teams, ten million here, a hundred million there, a billion there.
"Whatever it is, the money talks. That's the bottom line. They can huff, and they can puff. But at the end of the day, they'll blow their own house down for enough money."
Mike Florio called out Brian Davis' bid for Washington Commanders
Mike Florio recently questioned former Duke basketball star Brian Davis' bid to purchase the Washington Commanders.
Aside from the bid coming out of the blue, the lawyer and sports media personality doesn't believe Davis has enough money to become a majority owner. Florio did the math, saying that if Davis submitted a $7 billion bid for the Commanders, he should have $2.1 billion to become the controlling owner.
Davis has claimed to have built a $50 billion company, but subsequent investigations into his investment did not yield positive outcomes. However, there have been speculations that Saudi Arabia's PIF could be Davis' backer for the bid.
In an April 2023 interview with WUSA's Darren Haynes, Davis said:
"That capital is coming from private investors who are located here in America who are domestic. I have a great amount of respect for the Saudi Arabian people and Arab people in Islam in general. I love them. But the money's not Saudi Arabian, and I've never been to Saudi Arabia in my life."
The Josh Harris-led ownership group eventually won the bid to purchase the Commanders from Dan Snyder for $6.05 billion.