How Lionel Messi’s Miami Deal Stymied Saudi Arabia

How David Beckham beat Saudi Arabia

The Saudis suffered a crushing defeat a day after claiming their big sporting victory – an agreement to merge the PGA Tour with their emerging golf circuit LIV. He fell short of his goal of signing one of football’s stars, Lionel Messi. Greatest man ever.

Instead, Messi will head to Inter Miami, the MLS team co-founded by David Beckham. It’s a sign that nearly infinite oil money can’t buy everything, but the complex arrangement to bring Messi to Florida hints at what it takes to beat Saudi wealth. be.

What Messi is looking to get: Details of the deal were not disclosed, but what is known about Inter Miami’s offer for the Argentinian star includes a roster spot freed from MLS salary restrictions and, very unusually, a It includes taking ownership of Inter Miami after the end of his playing career.

But the commercial partnerships Inter Miami has crafted in the form of revenue-sharing deals with major MLS commercial partners Adidas and Apple may have given the team an edge over the Saudi army.

It’s not unheard of for a sportswear company, but help me pay for remittance Among the major soccer players, the iPhone maker’s contribution is even more rare.Messi could come to MLS turbocharge subscription Apple TV+ streaming service recently paid $2.5 billion for the rights to stream league games for 10 years. (Apple announced Wednesday that it will produce a multi-part documentary series about the soccer star.)

Inter Miami had to be very creative to beat Saudi Arabia. The company has reportedly offered Messi as much as $500 million to play in its country’s soccer league, viewing the sport as part of its campaign to become a greater geopolitical force. .

Saudi Arabia is already attracting other top players in hopes of making the tournament a world-class event soon. For example, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo is playing on Saudi pitches for $100 million a year, and France’s Karim Benzema has just signed a similar deal.and it handed Ownership of four top clubs in the country As Saudi Arabia bids to host the 2030 men’s World Cup, it has funded a powerful sovereign wealth fund to strengthen its financial strength.

Messi also already had ties to Saudi Arabia in the form of a multi-million dollar spokesperson for the Saudi Tourism Board.

Beating Middle Eastern money is not impossible, but difficult. The impetus for the proposed merger of the PGA Tour and LIV is the prospect of a lengthy legal battle between the golf circuits, with Saudi Arabia having enough money to continue the lawsuit.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states including Abu Dhabi and Qatar bought and transformed Europe’s leading football franchise Simply trying to spend more money than others.

That said, the PGA-LIV contract isn’t over yet. in the meantime Analyst Famous golf fans such as investors Henry Kravis Senate Democrats praised the proposed deal called for an investigation. And the Justice Department was still investigating the PGA Tour for possible antitrust violations.and other golf enthusiasts Some players, including Rory McIlroy, who reluctantly accepted the deal, are still very skeptical of LIV, if not outright against it.

what is going on here

Hardline Republicans are paralyzing the House. Members of the House Freedom Caucus maintained control of the floor, forcing Speaker Kevin McCarthy to cancel the ballot for the rest of the week. The intra-party feud has raised concerns about whether McCarthy, who has infuriated conservatives by agreeing to a compromise on the debt ceiling, will be able to continue his administration.

The eurozone is in recession. block of The economy shrank by 0.4% It was the second straight quarter of decline in the three months to March, according to EU Statistics Office, as the surge in inflation after the war in Ukraine hit household spending.

Senators have accused TikTok of misleading Congress. Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn said executives under oath over how Chinese-owned apps handle and store American user data. questioned the statement. Separately, a former executive at TikTok’s parent company ByteDance accused the company of aiding Beijing authorities. Spy on Hong Kong demonstrators.

CNN’s future is under close scrutiny following the dismissal of its director. Chris Licht has fallen out of favor with top talent and, ultimately, of his patron, Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav, after a rocky 13-month tenure. was dismissed as CEO of the news media. Warner Bros. Discovery shares rose 8% on Wednesday, but it’s unclear who Zaslav will hire to reverse the network’s slump.

GameStop dismisses CEO and promotes largest shareholder. video game retailers Fired Matt Furlonggave activist investor Ryan Cohen, who became chairman, the promotion to executive chairman. GameStop shares fell 19% on Wednesday. The company is struggling to regain profitability as consumers shift to downloading game titles.

More fog will roll in on the east coast

Do not put away your mask yet. A health alert was extended Thursday across much of the United States, from the Northeast to the Midwest to the South, as toxic wildfire smoke continues to drift out of Canada.

The FAA, which delayed air traffic to and from New York on Wednesday, issued a warning Thursday morning about flights arriving at LaGuardia Airport. will be grounded due to low visibility. The order could be extended to Newark International Airport and JFK International Airport, the agency said.

Businesses and schools in many American cities are plagued by small-particle smoke similar to the exhaust from cars and coal-fired power plants, and how unprepared most of the country is for the climate crisis. indicates whether

On Wednesday, New York City’s air quality was among the worst in any city in the world. According to reportsflight delays and cancellations outdoors and Indoor events like Broadway shows, Central Park’s “Hamlet,” New York Yankees games and more. Eating outdoors was prohibited.

Many companies, including Google (which recently encouraged employees to return to the office), have suggested to their employees: Work from home if possible.

The city may improve somewhat on Thursday. But Philadelphia’s air quality has reached dangerous levels, and fog can be seen as far south as Alabama. Meanwhile, the White House announced that the United States plans to send 600 firefighters and other professionals to Canada to help fight nearly 250 fires in total.

Wildfire disruption is becoming increasingly costly. Smoke’s toll on the U.S. economy is now Approximately $125 billion annuallyaccording to the National Economic Research Service.

We can expect more emergencies of this kind. No research has yet linked this week’s events to climate change, but global warming is largely due to human activity, making parts of the planet more prone to wildfires and other catastrophes.

And the weather phenomenon known as El Niño is expected to arrive later this year, making things even worse and potentially triggering more wildfires.

“I think it’s actually hurting everyone a lot because of the level of hype they’re creating.”

— Ken Griffin, cheerleader for the new artificial intelligence service. Talk to the Citadel’s new internand the financial giant warned that while the new advances would bring many benefits, it would be years before they became a reality.

Market reality check

Whether the Fed will keep rates on hold or raise them next week, a decision investors call a “Fed moratorium,” is currently an open question.

Thursday morning market futures priced in a 35% chance of a rate hike at the June 13-14 meeting. It’s far from certain, but it’s become more likely in the last few days. cut The second half of this year seems to be off the charts.

Investors believe it will take longer than expected to bring inflation under control. Central banks in Canada and Australia surprised economists with rate hikes this week, suggesting more aggressive monetary policy was needed to slow consumer spending and push prices down.

As a result, sovereign bond yields surged around the world, driving up borrowing prices for consumers and businesses.

The Treasury borrowing boom is also weighing on the market. With the debt ceiling deal signed, the federal government will auction about $1 trillion of Treasury bills this summer to replenish its coffers.

The coming debt tsunami could push borrowing costs even higher, creating a sort of liquidity squeeze for lenders, Wall Street analysts warn.

That has made investors more wary of interest rate-sensitive sectors. Tech stocks fell Wednesday and came under pressure again in pre-market trading this morning. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is one of the biggest gainers this year as investors bet the Fed is nearing the end of its rate-hiking cycle and capping borrowing costs.

Still, tech stocks have rallied on investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, and the rally may not have come full circle yet. Analysts at Goldman Sachs estimate that widespread adoption of AI over the next decade could boost GDP, boost corporate profits, and trigger a significant surge in the S&P 500 index over that period. there is

AI-driven market prosperity comes from: just a few — but it was enough to push the entire benchmark index to its highest level since August.

speed reading

Information of sale

• Toshiba’s board of directors has issued a statement to shareholders of the Japanese electronics giant. Accepts $14 billion tender offer By investor consortium. (Reuters)

• Kim Kardashian With her new hat as a private equity mogul, she made headlines at the Super Return conference in Berlin. (Bloomberg)

• The UK Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph put up for sale A dispute is brewing between the newspaper’s current owner and its lender. (guardian)

artificial intelligence

best of the rest

• china and cuba A pact was reportedly reached That would allow China to set up electronic wiretapping facilities on the island. (WSJ)

• Binance lawyers said Gary Gensler offered: Advise cryptocurrency exchanges In 2019, years before he became SEC chairman and led a lawsuit against the company. (CNBC)

• fox news lawyer Defendant Tucker Carlson There was a breach of contract after he started airing a new show on Twitter. (Axios)

• 13 women have Suspect Crispin Oddy, UK hedge fund tycoon, of sexual assault and harassment. (FT)

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