Politico: Washington’s Favorite Teams — Now Partly Owned by a Foreign Autocracy

[China]

Washington’s Favorite Teams — Now Partly Owned by a Foreign Autocracy

 

Ted Leonsis, the ebullient owner of Washington’s hockey and basketball teams, is almost certainly the capital’s most popular sports honcho. As CEO, he’s celebrated diversity, staging Japanese and Caribbean heritage nights, launching a Hebrew-langauge Twitter handle and festooning the scoreboards with Pride-night rainbows. As owner of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, he’s been a champion of women’s sports. Beyond the arena, he’s a philanthropic titan who has invested in independent documentaries about things like juvenile incarceration and human rights atrocities.

 

But as of Monday, fans who buy tickets — and the corporations that entertain Beltway VIPs in private boxes at the arena — may in some small way be underwriting human rights abuses against LGBT people, women and independent media.

 

That’s because Leonsis has just closed on a reported $200 million investment from the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, the fantastically rich Persian Gulf state where women’s freedoms are restricted, LGBT rights are nonexistent and media inquiry is curtailed. In exchange, the Qatar Investment Authority gets a roughly 5 percent stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NHL’s Washington Capitals and a number of other ventures.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Renegade7]

Congratulations, Ted, you're now the worst sports team owner in DC by a country mile...

[tshile]

This news actually broke a week or few ago. I’ve listened to a lot of different people speak on it since then. 
 

I tend to fall on the side of not liking it. However… I’ve heard a number of smart people point out that when this sort of thing happens, countries like this getting involved in the “western” economies (for lack of a better description), it actually forces them more into the spotlight. It forces them to change to fit in better. They stop being isolated from the western world and instead are forced to at least start assimilating 

 

no idea if that’s what will happen but I’ve heard it from enough smart people I can’t just ignore it. 

[TradeTheBeal!]

I could not care less.

[PleaseBlitz]

Just wait until people hear where gasoline, clothing and consumer electronics come from.

[Spaceman Spiff]

32 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

Just wait until people hear where gasoline, clothing and consumer electronics come from.

Pretty much. 

[ixcuincle]

I don't think it's that big a deal 

[Hersh]

I hope he gets asked about it. What I don't get is why he did it. I thought he had plenty of big money investors already on board. I didn't think cash flow was an issue but maybe it is. 

[PleaseBlitz]

14 minutes ago, Hersh said:

I hope he gets asked about it. What I don't get is why he did it. I thought he had plenty of big money investors already on board. I didn't think cash flow was an issue but maybe it is. 

 

I don't have any inside information on Monumental, but a lot of times these sovereign wealth funds of, let's say "problematic," regimes are willing to substantially overpay because they aren't just buying an investment for the potential ROI, they are buying legitimacy.  

[Fergasun]

@tshile

Qatar did not really assimilate itself to the west by hosting the World Cup.

 

 

[PeterMP]

3 hours ago, tshile said:

This news actually broke a week or few ago. I’ve listened to a lot of different people speak on it since then. 
 

I tend to fall on the side of not liking it. However… I’ve heard a number of smart people point out that when this sort of thing happens, countries like this getting involved in the “western” economies (for lack of a better description), it actually forces them more into the spotlight. It forces them to change to fit in better. They stop being isolated from the western world and instead are forced to at least start assimilating 

 

no idea if that’s what will happen but I’ve heard it from enough smart people I can’t just ignore it. 

 

Eh,  I'm not at all sure about that.  I'd have to see some real numbers.  There might be a few one off examples of it happening, but I'll bet by and large it doesn't happen.

 

What I will say is that I'd believe generally this sort of thing is that it tends to end to be an economic loss long term for them.  More money entering the pool means higher costs (to buy) and historically has pushed things to the point that they don't make economic sense.

 

It is really no different than stock picking and long term stock pickers almost always lose.

[tshile]

44 minutes ago, Fergasun said:

@tshile

Qatar did not really assimilate itself to the west by hosting the World Cup.

 

 

It’s a long process. 
 

im not saying it’s my idea or I like it. Just sharing the information

And same response to you @PeterMP

 

my personal opinion is im unsure if I should be alarmed, or if it’s a good or bad thing, if American sports become owned by foreign entities. 
 

f1. Soccer. Golf. Now this.  There’s a pattern of behavior that suggest this is going to continue to be more prevalent. 
 

is it good? Does it do what those people are saying? Or is it just effective sportswashing? How do the markers react? Is there value in the USA laying claim to its sports and protecting them?

 

I have no idea what the answers to any of those questions are. 

[CousinsCowgirl84]

4 hours ago, TradeTheBeal! said:

I could not care less.

I wonder if a boycott would make them tickets cheaper…

4 hours ago, tshile said:

 

I tend to fall on the side of not lo liking it. However… I’ve heard a number of smart people point out that when this sort of thing happens, countries like this getting involved in the “western” economies (for lack of a better description), it actually forces them more into the spotlight. It forces them to change to fit in better. They stop being isolated from the western world and instead are forced to at least start assimilating 

 

 

I had a similar thought. And when we say westernization we are obviously talking about marketing for the purposes of making money.  So while it is doubtful that the Princes in Qatar give two ****s about women’s rights, social Justice, lgbtq rights, it’s just good marketing to do so. And once you do there ain’t no going back. So that is good.

[DCSaints_fan]

7 hours ago, PleaseBlitz said:

Just wait until people hear where gasoline, clothing and consumer electronics come from.

In terms of the US, not much at all from the Middle East as of a few years ago.  We're actually a net exporter of petroleum products (not crude, but refined products as well).  Due to refineries preferring certain grades we still do import oil, but only like half a milion barrels  per day < 10% of our imports and less than 5% of our total usage.

 

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=727&t=6

 

I think this part of the reason Biden was not picking up the phone from King of Saudi Arabia for a while, until the Ukraine war broke out and he wanted them to get on board with increasing oil production.  Its like we're saying we don't need them anymore, and never liked them anyway.

[PeterMP]

13 hours ago, DCSaints_fan said:

In terms of the US, not much at all from the Middle East as of a few years ago.  We're actually a net exporter of petroleum products (not crude, but refined products as well).  Due to refineries preferring certain grades we still do import oil, but only like half a milion barrels  per day < 10% of our imports and less than 5% of our total usage.

 

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=727&t=6

 

I think this part of the reason Biden was not picking up the phone from King of Saudi Arabia for a while, until the Ukraine war broke out and he wanted them to get on board with increasing oil production.  Its like we're saying we don't need them anymore, and never liked them anyway.

 

Just to be clear, the issue wasn't that Biden wasn't picking up the phone with the King.

 

The issue was that he wouldn't talk to the Prince who is currently in line to take charge (and has largely done so.  The King is 87.).  The US position was that Biden's equivalent was the King and that he'd only talk to the King.

 

Which is realistically how the two governments had operated for years.  The Saudi's wanted things to change.  And have now won because we wanted them to pump more oil because of the war in Ukraine.

 

[samy316]

4 hours ago, PeterMP said:

 

Just to be clear, the issue wasn't that Biden wasn't picking up the phone with the King.

 

The issue was that he wouldn't talk to the Prince who is currently in line to take charge (and has largely done so.  The King is 87.).  The US position was that Biden's equivalent was the King and that he'd only talk to the King.

 

Which is realistically how the two governments had operated for years.  The Saudi's wanted things to change.  And have now won because we wanted them to pump more oil because of the war in Ukraine.

 

The Saudis punked America, and Biden in particular looks very weak by talking tough against the Saudis during the debates in 2020, then crawling back to the Saudis like a dog with its tail in between its legs when the Ukrainian war popped off, and when inflation was running wild, threatening to cause gas prices to skyrocket.  It’s not just Biden though, ANY US President will cater to the whims of the Saudis/Gulf States, as long as they get that access to all the sweet, sweet oil.

Edited July 15, 2023 by samy316

[spjunkies]

Ted is a scumbag, always has been. Should be interesting to see how he handles the spotlight now that daniel is off to Europe.