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Middle Eastern Sports Cash Doesn’t Faze Young Americans: Harris Poll

lev akabas
·4 min read

The 2024 Qatar Open, a WTA 1000 event, concluded on Feb. 17 with Iga Świątek defeating Elena Rybakina in the final. This week, the ATP is hosting its own smaller event in Doha, Qatar.

These two tournaments have been played annually for decades, but more tennis events are coming to the Middle East soon. In October, Saudi Arabia will host a new exhibition called the “Six Kings Slam” featuring Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and four other top players. The following month, the WTA Tour Finals may also take place in Saudi Arabia.

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According to a new Harris Poll, these events likely bother older Americans; that’s not the case for younger people in the survey, who are generally supportive of Middle Eastern nations financing high-profile sports.

The recent influx of Middle Eastern money into sports has touched most major leagues and governing bodies. In 2023, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), bought a minority stake in Washington Wizards and Capitals parent Monumental Sports & Entertainment, marking the first time a sovereign fund invested in major U.S. team sports. The NBA also recently renamed its in-season tournament the Emirates Cup after the government-owned airline that operates out of the United Arab Emirates. Sportico’s list of highest-paid athletes of 2023 is littered with names who scored huge paydays from Saudi Arabia, including soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo and golfer Jon Rahm in the top two spots.

These deals are controversial because of the well-documented human rights violations that have taken place in these nations. Qatar received criticism when it hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2022, based on the treatment of migrant workers in the country. The term “sportswashing” has been used to imply that countries are spending on sports teams and events to improve their public images.

Americans are conflicted when it comes to this sea change, as 51% of professional sports fans somewhat or strongly agree that “the influx of Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund money into global sports is a good thing,” while the remaining 49% somewhat or strongly disagree.

This result comes from a December 2023 survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,085 U.S. adults age 18 and over by Harris Poll in collaboration with Sportico.

There is a significant generational divide on this issue. Only 28% of Gen X individuals or Boomers surveyed say that Middle Eastern investment in global sports is a good thing, but Millennials and Gen Z are generally supportive, with 61% of those combined age brackets in approval. The responses were nearly identical when participants were asked about the influx of Middle Eastern money into U.S. sports (29% Gen X/Boomer+ vs. 61% Gen Z/Millennial) and specifically whether or not U.S. sports leagues should allow sovereign wealth funds to invest in teams (29% vs. 61%).

Younger generations are also far more likely to approve of their favorite sports team making a deal with a particular Middle Eastern country, such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. In reference to business agreements with these specific nations, the approval percentages among younger Americans are 59%, 57% and 57%, respectively. Conversely, only 30%, 28% and 25% of older Americans express approval.

Interestingly, our polling responses for those three countries were extremely similar. Some 43% of respondents have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of Qatar, while the same share hold a positive view of the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia is only slightly behind at 39%. The strong generational divide holds for all three countries’ favorability scores as well.

(Sportico has done business with an entity whose principals have ties to QIA. Additionally, Penske Media Corporation, the publisher of Sportico, took a 2018 investment from Saudi Research and Media Group, a publicly traded business majority-owned by NCB Capital, an arm of Saudi Arabia’s largest bank.)

Many of the survey questions posed hypothetical situations, but the results indicate that when those hypotheticals become realities, people’s opinions may change. For instance, 48% of professional sports fans say they would disapprove in theory of a professional sports league hosting an event in Qatar. Only 36% of professional sports fans familiar with the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, however, disapprove of its being hosted there.

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