Saudi Arabia, with its seemingly endless billions, on the verge of making its
biggest move yet to try to use the world of sports to change its image.
What has been called by some as sports washing,
with a move even bigger than buying a major stake in the sport of golf.
Today, the Saudi Arabian soccer team Al Hilal got permission to pursue
contract talks with 24 year old French soccer phenome Kylian Mbappe.
Reports syndicate they're offering more than a billion dollars for
Mbappe to join them for one season.
A billion dollars for one year?
>> Speaker 2: It's a lot of money, Cenk, what do you think?
>> Speaker 3: Okay, so first of all, that might be a record that never gets broken.
Because I'm not sure that any sport is ever gonna get so lucrative that you
could pay one player for one year, a billion dollars and still make money.
And the reason why you're in this situation, even Real Madrid,
all these top soccer teams in the world can't afford this.
And the reason is the Saudis don't care about making money from soccer.
They care about repairing their reputation that's why they're offering.
>> Maybe to stop decapitating people.
>> Speaker 3: That's the other way to go, save a lot of money.
>> That's a better way of doing it.
>> Right, and let's acknowledge that Mbappe
sounds like a pop song, but I am a football fan.
>> [LAUGH] >> Yeah, totally.
But he is awesome, and he's probably the best player in the world right now.
And he was fantastic in the World Cups.
And he's worth a lot.
Nobody's worth a billion.
>> Speaker 2: He is very good looking.
>> Speaker 3: Yeah, he's also that.
We did one other story about him, and
he's kind of a sign of the times in a lot of different ways because there
were reports that he was dating someone who's transgender.
And so in the old days, that would have been unimaginable, right?
But by the way, the Saudis are offering a billion dollars to a guy who dated someone
who was transgender.
That's kind of trippy, right?
I don't know if the fundamentals Muslim leaders of Saudi Arabia know that,
and there was pictures together and stuff.
I don't know that he confirmed it, just to be absolutely clear.
But anyways, back to the main event here, in soccer, it's not like the U.S. sports.
You actually pay a transfer fee to the club that he's coming from,
which in this case is from Paris.
So they would get $332 million just to trade him, okay.
And then he would get $776 million.
Now, it is true that you're helping Saudi Arabia clean up their image a little bit.
On the other hand, it is $776 million for one year, and he's 24.
He's got a lot of years ahead of him, and he's very likely gonna go to one of
the best teams in the world, of course, right afterwards, back in Europe.
I gotta tell you, man, I got principals, and
I've turned down a lot of money in the past for those principles.
I don't know, I got enough principals for $776 million.
And now LeBron and so many of the other players are, hey,
you guys got a basketball league.
>> Speaker 2: Yeah. >> [LAUGH]
>> Which, by the way,
it seems to be them just kind of joking around.
But I am curious what their answer would be if they received an offer like that.
>> Speaker 3: Yeah, so I'll go through some of them for you guys, and
we already lived this through the golf situation.
So the Saudis wanted to take over golf in America, and the PGA was like, no way.
And a lot of the players, the golfers were, look,
the Saudis not only did the dismemberment, but let's keep it real.
15 out of the 19 hijackers on 911 were Saudis.
>> Right. >> And funded by Osama bin Laden,
who was a Saudi prince.
And so, a lot of them had a moral objections.
The 911 families didn't want it, and the PGA was, no way.
And this Saudi tournament is called LIV.
And then LIV just bought the PGA because they
just overwhelmed them with a tsunami of money.
So, the guys who turned down all the money to play at LIV, all of a sudden, they're,
wait, we could have had the money, and now we have to play for them anyway.
So, it became a giant moral conundrum, right?
When they took over golf.
And so, would LeBron really play for that kind of money?
I don't know.
LeBron already has a ton of money, so he might not need it.
But Draymond Green was joking around, too, and he's,
I don't know that the ink has dried on my contract.
A guy like Draymond Green, who's an All Star but
not legendary like LeBron or Mbappe, he gonna go.
A lot of people are gonna go.
By the way, a lot of the soccer stars have already gone,
Cristiano Ronaldo's in Saudi Arabia, Benzema's in Saudi Arabia.
These are some of the top players.
And Cristiano Ronaldo is a little bit older these days, but
Benzema is one of the top players in the world, undoubtedly.
And Messi, to his credit, turned down the Saudi money and
went to a club in America instead, went to Miami.
So, I don't know if the basketball players would take it, and
Giannis was joking around.
He's maybe certainly among the top three players in the NBA now, and he's,
I even look like Mbappe [LAUGH].
And it's true, he does look a little bit like Mbappe.
They're joking for now, but the Saudis do have a basketball league.
So, there he is.
He's, like, pointing, he's, look, I look like him.
>> Yeah. >> Speaker 3: And
they're friends and stuff.
So bottom line is, guys, if there's ever a time to sell out, it's for $776 million.
>> Speaker 2: And also, look, I wouldn't begrudge him for taking that deal.
He would have to live in Saudi Arabia, though, right?
For a year, at least?
>> Speaker 3: Yeah.
>> Speaker 2: I don't know if I'd wanna live in Saudi Arabia.
I don't know if I'd wanna live in any kind of country that has the kinds of
morality rules that Saudi Arabia has.
>> Speaker 3: Hell no.
>> Speaker 2: I would be miserable there.
>> Speaker 3: No, I would never go to Saudi Arabia as long as this
dictator is in charge.
And I left Islam, there's some chance they'd execute me.
So, it's not for me.
It's for other folks.
But for $776 million [LAUGH], and then you know what you do in Mbappe afterwards?
As soon as the contract's over and the cash is cleared and
you've done your job and you played for them.
And then now you're going to Milan or wherever you're going, or Madrid or
whatever, then be, Saudi Arabia sucks [LAUGH].
Not Saudi Arabia itself, not the people, but the government, right?
>> Speaker 2: Yeah.
>> Speaker 3: And then you can use some of that money to do marketing against
Saudi Arabia.
Use $76 million to publicize all the things that are wrong in Saudi Arabia and
keep the 700 million.
>> Speaker 2: Whatever, man, look, he doesn't owe anyone anything, okay?
If he wants to take the money, take the money, okay?
And let me just be clear about something.
Having integrity is not rewarded in today's society,
whether you're talking about France or the United States.
So do what's right for you.
If you wanna live in Saudi Arabia for a year and play for that soccer team and
get paid handsomely to do it, do it.
>> Speaker 3: Look at the [INAUDIBLE]. >> No one's gonna give you props for
turning it down.
They might rhetorically for a day, and
then everyone's gonna forget about your wonderful, principle decision.
So do what's right for you.
That's what I would say.
>> Speaker 2: Well, look- >> I was keeping it real about human
behavior and the human mentality, right?
>> Speaker 3: No, I'm gonna agree with you.
Look, there's a few people like us who I'll always appreciate that Messi
turned it down.
I think that's incredibly courageous, wonderful, etc, of him.
Now, having said that, most people don't care at all, okay?
And look at what happened to the golfers who turned down the money.
A bunch of the golfers took the money.
A ton of the golfers turned it down, and they did the morally correct thing, and
then the PGA sold them out anyway.
When now and they might be in the same situation without the money.
So, if it's that level, guys, bounds of reason, just keeping it real.