From a Wall Street Journal story by Joshua Robinson and Andrew Beaton headlined “The Week Saudi Arabia Tightened Its Grip on Global Sports”:

When Saudi Arabia first decided to exert its influence on global sports around five years ago, the Kingdom wasn’t even the biggest player in its own region. It hosted an occasional tennis exhibition or second-tier motor racing event. The future seemed to belong to its neighbors, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

But the past year—and in particular the past week—has made it clear where the power and the future of its sports ambitions really lie. The Saudi takeover isn’t just beginning. It has fully arrived.