While I'm very happy it wasn't United that the Saudis used to sportwash their way into global football, still feels like a huge loss for the game.

Thoughts?

For Newcastle and their fans, not so much, they are getting rid of a
owner they never liked and are getting some potentially unlimited
ressource to fight it out with the other big club in the league. The
only downside are on the ethical side but as we seen in the past, this
doesn't seem to matter too much to those in charge.

All in all, the only positive I see from this is potentially that PL
will be more interesting and Newcastle will have an interesting
project for the next few years. But overall, the negative outweight
the positive for me.

Personally, I don't quite understand why anyone sees this as a negative thing. What is so scary or unethical about the Saudis buying the club?

I'm in favor of any development. Including soccer. If the Saudis make Newcastle better - I'll only be glad. If the Saudis make the entire Premier League better, I'll be happy too.

I often don't quite understand these things, and it all seems like some kind of gambling. Well it is as if I went to read interesting casino reviews on the site https://betpokies.com, and the Saudis came and bought this site, and did everything in their own way. It's weird, but it's a developmental twist on Newcastle's life.

What is so scary or unethical about the Saudis buying the club?

• Infamous murder of dissident journalist
• Jailing of women's rights activists
• Crackdown on prominent intellectuals, clerics and reformists
• The devastating war in Yemen
• Extensive use of the death penalty
• Punishment of same-sex relations

so, nothing unethical, same as when more than 6500 people died building the stadiums for Qatar World Cup.

The point I'm making is that this isn't about sport at all. It's about foreign, authoritarian governments running regimes that run counter to most people's idea of a just/human rights following state, and how they use sports to basically win over hundreds of millions of people who will then defend them in both formal and informal media.
The success of the club is their way of buying your support, regardless of if you realize that or not. And they spend billions on it because the shield it gives them from public pressure abroad (which can cost hundreds of billions in embargos) and gives them a favorable presence of big trade partners (e.g. weapons and oil from and for the UK), which also nets them billions.
They're investing in your support. And they're using your football club and the emotional connection you have to it to do it.

@Jack, from earlier in the thread.

@Jack, from earlier in the thread.

Thanks :)