Why doesn't Jon Rahm and LIV's contract add up? Saudi Arabia and its commitment to luxury

This summer, Jaylen Brown, of the Boston Celtics, signed the largest contract in NBA history: 280 million euros for five seasons, that is, 56 million a year. The announcement sparked a debate in the United States. If Brown, who is a very good player, but is not the star of his team, earns that much money…. How much will Luka Doncic's renewal be in 2025? Many analysts consider that the former Real Madrid player could be the first to overcome the barrier of 75 million euros per year and mark a milestone in Yankee sports.

Nobody in the NBA has earned so much, not even in the NFL or the MBL, the three leagues with the highest income from television rights above the Premier or LaLiga.. Well, Jon Rahm will earn 525 million euros from the LIV Golf circuit, 105 million per year, double that of Jaylen Brown and more than Doncic negotiates whatever he negotiates.. How is it possible?

Rahm's contract with the semi-new golf competition responds to several reasons, but the first is blatant: it is not sustainable nor does it intend to be sustainable.. The LIV Golf circuit is part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 project, led by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, which aims to promote the country to get rid of its dependence on oil. The cost does not matter. The income, neither. In 2022, its first season, the almost clandestine tournaments of the LIV circuit spent 1.4 billion from the Saudi Public Investment Fund and there was practically no return.

In the NBA, the distribution of income is 50/50 between owners and players, so contracts grow at the same rate as the league's economy.. Something similar happens in the NFL or the MBL and even in European football thanks to financial fair play even though there are exceptions here.. First, because footballers take approximately 70% of their clubs' income, more than LeBron James and company.. And second, because the regulations are flexible, hence Leo Messi's latest agreement with Barcelona, 555 million for four years, as EL MUNDO revealed.. In LIV Golf, in any case, there is no relationship of any kind between profits and salaries.

The second largest in history

That contract signed by Messi and Josep Maria Bartomeu in 2017 maintains the record of being the most expensive in the history of sport, although Rahm's recent pact with LIV Golf is already in second place. With the agreement between Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City for 420 million in fourth position – it was for 10 years, from 2020 to 2031 -, the third and fifth place are also the work of Saudi Arabia: the 500 million from Al-Nassr to Cristiano Ronaldo for two and a half seasons and the 400 million from Al-Ittihad to Karim Benzema for two seasons.

And football is the spearhead of Saudi Arabia's global tourism expansion, although the country has also invested a fortune in Formula 1 and smaller amounts in sports such as mixed martial arts (MMA) or paddle tennis.. His next objectives are tennis, which is already planning a Masters 1000 in Riyadh, and winter sports, with the Neom ski resort, but golf remains essential in his project.

luxury tourists

The reason is the type of public that Saudi Arabia wants to attract in the coming decades. Beyond mass tourism, the country seeks to be a reference for luxury tourists and they are usually interested in watching and playing golf.. The economic value of the sport has never been in the number of fans it attracts, its global audiences are limited – the PGA Tour's broadcast rights generate less than those of MLS soccer -, for example, but it attracts high-level fans purchasing.

Hence the exaggerated investment in the LIV Golf, which, furthermore, will not be forever.. At first Saudi Arabia's intention was to associate with the PGA Tour – as it has done with ATP – but later decided to create its own competition due to the difficulties in reaching an agreement.. Now, with the schism created in golf with contracts like Rahm's, the union between both circuits should accelerate until it becomes a fact soon.