I’m sure by now you’ve either seen or heard about the recent PGA golf tour’s merger with its Saudi-backed LIV equivalent…
It certainly made news across the U.S. and the world when it finally happened.
Source – USA Today
I don’t know about you, but I find the tone of that headline to be quite compelling.
It asks basically if this isn’t a merger, then what is it?
Good question.
And for those of us who study the 18.6-year real estate cycle, it presents a very important clue…
You’ll Never Be Told What You Need to Hear
Look closer and the truth becomes apparent. These Saudi-led investments into sports like golf and football all have one thing in common with each other.
Both sports are beamed live around the world to a global audience.
By buying into football clubs and this golf merger, the House of Saud can instantly eliminate any and all negative and contrary media concerning their regime.
They can do this because the TV rights for both sports are in fact a government-granted license.
The Saudis now hold high-level sway over what exactly gets printed or spoken about them.
Remember the criticism from the U.S. PGA about their rival Saudi league? Do you think you’ll be hearing that now?
Of course not… and that’s the point.
This current 18.6-year real estate cycle will go down in history for a few things, but it’s certain that the use of soft power and influence by nation states (most of them authoritarian, mind you) will be a major one.
And it’s designed to accomplish two things.
They’ll Try to Keep You Looking the Other Way
One is to continue to push the agenda of nations like Saudi Arabia…
But the sinister second reason is far more important – and that’s to keep the truth of what’s really happening on the ground hidden for as long as possible.
The stakes here are high for Saudi Arabia and its leader, Prince Mohammed bin Salman al Saud.
Since the “Saudi Vision 2030” was released in 2016, which laid the blueprint of how the country would reduce reliance on oil sales for 70% of all government revenue, they’ve been working on a monumental project…
Instead of using oil, it would turn to renewable energy for its own needs, and put massive investment in sports and an unprecedented real estate-led redevelopment of millions of square miles of empty desert.
This is best epitomized by the NEOM project, which is described as arguably the world’s largest and most controversial architecture project. If you have a moment, it’s worth quickly reading up on.
Source – NEOM
By the time the land markets in the U.S. and globally have peaked, most of this project will still be years from completion.
If history repeats, the next step will be the bust and banks calling in their loans.
Do you think the Saudis will ever want news of problems like this for NEOM ever seeing the light of day?
They will use the media to report nothing but good news and bright blue skies ahead.
This is the real reason behind the PGA merger.
And, as I’ve written to you before, it plays right into the emotion and hedonistic behavior that’s so typical of the real estate cycle peak.
Consider this yet another warning shot.
The time to prepare yourself for all this – is now.
Regards,
Phil Anderson
Editor, Cycles Trading with Phil Anderson
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