The default is that people don't fucking care. Especially tourists. MBS can organize music festivals every week and people would go if it's not too expensive. Qatar hosted the world cup in 2022, and guess who was picked just recently to host the cup in 2034. Yes, Saudi Arabia.
And saw relatively low amounts of tourists and views from Europe (top 2 in terms of footballing powerhouses, alongside South America which is generally poorer and less people from there can afford to travel). Just comparing the 22 World cup to the 24 Euros was night and day in terms of coverage, pubs showing the games, viewing parties, etc.
I'm painfully aware ... I lost the key to our short term rental somewhere around midnight in Tilburg during the Euro cup, one weekend before the finals and all the hotels/hostels were full in the city (and in Eindhoven and in Berga) ... of course our host's phone was on do-not-disturb, but at least it did not rain that night.
Anyway, the point of sportswashing is not direct monetary profits.
The default is that people don't fucking care. Especially tourists. MBS can organize music festivals every week and people would go if it's not too expensive. Qatar hosted the world cup in 2022, and guess who was picked just recently to host the cup in 2034. Yes, Saudi Arabia.
Just this year, historic milestone. Yeey. :|
https://www.unwto.org/news/un-tourism-applauds-saudi-arabia-...