Dinos Check: Will the Saudis Buy the Swiss League?

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Why doesn’t the Saudi sovereign wealth fund buy a Swiss ice hockey club instead of just clubs from the Premier League, professional golf tours, Formula 1 or the World Cup? The sheikhs probably adhere to the lyrics of the Hamburg hip-hop band Deichkind and think big – and that is exactly how they act. They don’t build townhouses, they build suburbs, they don’t buy weed either, they buy all of Jamaica and drink ex. Lake Baikal.

And that is exactly why the Saudis are not buying a Swiss ice hockey club. They perform at the Met in New York, not on a village stage in the Glarus Sernftal. In America, they have quickly gobbled up the professional golf tour, a national institution, as Congress complained.

They had previously offered a partnership to the PGA Tour, but it was rejected. They then bought the stars away from the tour, made a few cosmetic changes to the rules, and eventually got them involved in ruinous lawsuits.

That would be good for the National League if, for example, the Saudis bought the Swiss League. A little competitive pressure would open the eyes of club bosses on the outskirts of Zurich through Zug, Bern and Lausanne to Geneva, and they could then take action before the entire substructure crumbles.

A spectacle, but not a permanent solution

Despite the spectacle, the 14-on-1 competition with six foreigners and endless supplies cannot be a permanent solution; very few people can afford that. At the same time, the second league is being run into the ground, MyHockey League and the first league are cannibalizing each other in the amateur sector, and in the youth sector they are somehow making ends meet.

The Saudis in Swiss ice hockey? As much a fantasy as the hope that National League club bosses will show greatness and take responsibility for the overall product.

Source : Blick