Can Saudi Arabia Buy Evo?

Saudi Arabia throwing barrels of cash at any entertainment industry they like is nothing new. If there is a popular sport, you will find some traces of oil cash, and possibly some stains of sportswashing.
With that said, between buying MBS foundation buying SNK, and Esports World Cup making fighting games a part of its lineup, could Saudi Arabia be expanding its hold on the FGC as well?
This is one of the questions that we seek to ask and answer in today's video.
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[@DashFight]

What do you think about Saudi Arabia potentially buying out more tournaments and esports orgs, do you think it's healthy overall, or potentially dangerous?

[@blooddumpster3427]

It's a spit in the face. Fuck Saudi Arabia and fuck Sony, and fuck RTS for selling us out to them.

[@RhythmLP]

@DashFight 100 percent dangerous. I see nothing good coming from giving them so much influence over what is supposed to be a grassroots run scene. I don't like the idea of getting in bed with entities that ultimately don't have the FGCs best interests at heart be it government or corporation.

[@fatewin]

its healthy of course...not to mention most of the western only consider WOKE as a thing....Potential dangerous ?????🤣.....which country is 100% safe from criminal records again.... racist , all the phobes happen all over the world

[@Ravenn77]

@@RhythmLP cry about it

[@aamerjamal]

The money poured into fgc by saudia obviously benefit every one but only West and specially woke will triggered as usually... 😂 😂 😂

[@RhythmLP]

Y'all got some guts talking about this. I respect it. Cuz I swear almost everyone is afraid to talk about this shit at the risk of endangering their bag.

[@sadetwizelve]

Guts how? What should they be worried about.

[@2saisai]

What guts? He's no different that the dozens of crap videos that are full of misinformation and racism. 😂. Guts he says.

[@noobsaibot7108]

​@@2saisai My sense has been that young Americans *really* don't know just how close and important an economic, military, diplomatic, and intelligence ally that Saudi has been to the U.S. for longer than they've been alive. When it comes to young and passionate identity activists who are quite vocal against Saudi e-sports, they don't seem to have ever heard of the _"petrodollar"_ or know how Saudi's military cooperation with the U.S. enabled American economic and energy security, guaranteed a strategic U.S. footprint in the Middle East and secured U.S. global dominance, that they enjoy even as they complain or boycott. No country has clean hands but on balance, Americans should be friendly to Saudi and want to learn its culture and know its people and do business with them. That way, through an exchange of values (and fighting games!) perhaps a better future can be created globally. _But can young Americans in the FGC humble themselves long enough to respect that most of the world has different values and cultures than they do?_

[@aamerjamal]

Yep some guts... But no a single one have guts to say "America is giving billions of dollars to isreal to kill children..."but no money for evo winners... 😂 😂 😂

[@ardidsonriente2223]

​@@noobsaibot7108I think is true that interchange of ideas is a possible good outcome. But the USA giving support to dictatorial regimes for economic advantage is nothing new, and as a native from one of the countries that have paid the USA blood tax, I can assure you, that it is not good, much less healthy, no matter how you look at it. IMO to compare cultures and values we should begin asking the saudi women about it, instead of blindly accepting the kings bribe.

[@bageltime8983]

Maybe if everyone agreed on basic human rights, then this wouldn't be so difficult of a question. But alas,people are people and very rarely change

[@2saisai]

Yeah bro. Like what we saw in Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Lebanon, Yemen , Palestine. All the right and freedom we saw during the "war on terror". And guess who doesn't even recognise food as a basic human right and actively fights it? Human rights. What a westren joke. Its like saying the west has freedom of speech or "democracy" and "freedom" were spread by the Americans. What a bunch of crap.

[@MohammadAlharbi559]

Yeah “basic human rights” as if it exists

[@r6sssj813]

Yeah the ones who made the human (RIGHTS) are the same ones who is air striking poor innocent women and children in gaza, they try to hold the crimes that Saudi have done while making a massacre, human rights are made by people who don’t care about other humans and it’s apparent for everyone

[@ahmedbenlahrech5352]

"basic human rights" should be applied everywhere, the US largely funds Israel's ongoing genocide and gives it massive international cover for its ongoing apartheid regime in the west bank, yet we have EVO there, Japan currently doesn't recognize same sex marriage etc.... I agree, Saudi arabia should be held accountable for its indescriminate bombing in yemen and its assassination of jamal khashoggi, but spare me your "basic human rights" fake tears please, I hate defending Saudi Arabia and Qatar but you lot make it laughably inciting to do so when you start spewing things like this

[@naan-jf9gh]

@@MohammadAlharbi559 Thanks for confirming your country is unfit for hosting events then, if that is your sentiment on the matter.

[@CharlieMarno100]

Yes. Will they? Who knows?

[@capri4682]

I’m glad I’m not only one with this thought

[@comradetyrone2298]

The LCQ was not organized by the people who are running the EWC and were just outsourced, that's why the production between that and the main tournament is night and day. And EWC listened to the complaints regarding the SF6 LCQ, that's why Tekken 8's LCQ were streamed in full. They also listened to players that asked for the SF6 group stages to be FT3 as that was originally FT2. They actually lsiten to feedback and made improvements.

[@Croco_G]

I don't see why it's a problem.

[@jzero3g]

Sony is part owner. Im pretty sure they have the money, but it would be more expensive than actual value

[@ardidsonriente2223]

I'm planning to go to EVO in Nice next year, with my wife. I will never, ever, go with her to a country with misoginistic laws and a bad human right abiding record.

[@DarthSkywalkerKenobi]

Agree, plus Isr*el. That place is just the worse. I am surprise that FIFA havent banned them yet.

[@DarthNVious]

They need at least 10 centuries of Christianization to be at least trustworthy.

[@DarthSkywalkerKenobi]

@@DarthNVious You meant to say liberalization. Since in the bible, women are asked to cover their hair, but no one is doing it.

[@ArchieGamez]

Isnt EVO owned by Sony?

[@tavianfloyd6589]

It is, but Sony is profit driven only. If evo isn't making money they would easily put it up for sale. If the Saudi Government put up a good enough offer, Sony would probably take it. The video is mostly hypothetical based on what the Saudi government's sports and esports washing.

[@2saisai]

Yep. And many companies, games and teams are owned by China.

[@naan-jf9gh]

@@2saisai LGBT is legal in China, and they don't bother people based on their identity like you Arabs do. But I know, hating people is a virtue to your people.

[@WARLORD626]

Didn't they basically already buy a huge chunk of streetfighter franchise ? and none of the bigger youtubers are talking about it.

[@nateolison7553]

When?

[@naan-jf9gh]

Did you mean SNK?

[@naan-jf9gh]

even if they did, the community would just leave EVO and start another grass roots tournament. Which is what EVO always was meant to be. It was always meant to be inclusive to all people, without fear of discrimination, and without a government sticking it's nose in the peoples business.

[@DarthNVious]

They need at least 10 centuries of Christianization to be at least trustworthy.

[@muhammedraashid3667]

Can Saudi Arabia buy EVO? Yes, they can... Now stop asking such an obvious question.

[@sadetwizelve]

The more countries have their own Evo,the less prestige Evo will have.

[@2saisai]

The more the better, at least every region won't have to put up with the BS of other countries.

[@mario08133]

The more the better indeed!

[@saeed7099]

@@2saisaihuman right’s are such bother.

[@2saisai]

@saeed7099 when they're applied selectively and are ignored when done by the most abusers (US,Israel and France). It's as worthless as screaming democracy in Iraq.

[@saeed7099]

@@2saisai progress is impossible if you’re unable to distinguish details. The logic that certain nations are hypocritical about certain things or do not hold to their creed 100% so therefore I can also do crappy things is unproductive.

[@KimSamaVideos]

I hope they do, and Soyny looses ownership of Evo

[@TheRadioSquare]

It would be a lot easier to be more accepting of Saudi Arabia dumping money into sports if their government and population showed any signs of tolerance and acceptance. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of great people everywhere. There are probably plenty of people in SA who don't care about the person's orientation, gender, sexuality, or anything else, and just treat them with basic human respect. That said, whenever the topic comes up, and people say that they don't feel safe, or morally comfortable coming to or working on Saudi Arabia events, you have dozens of replies accusing them or racism, bigotry, or something like "you won't get in trouble if you behave." Why should someone hide their identity from others? I imagine plenty of Saudi people are proud of their country, their identity, their culture. That's fine. Some people are also proud of their identity because it represents things that they had to overcome and allows them to be more comfortable with themselves, yet I see the demands for them to hide their flag, not be seen with their lovers, not show affection in public. These sorts of repressive views are not synonymous with hospitality. Also, as is often the case, the religious aspect of the problem tends to fluctuate because inevitably changes to the text are made over time, and people subscribe to different interpretation of said text. At this point, every side of the debate has quotes Quran in their favor, and it all comes down to "my interpretation is better/more corrent."

[@r6sssj813]

Hiding one’s identity is part of our customs and traditions, and private actions remain a secret. We hold onto our customs and will not allow any country to erase them. Everyone should respect our traditions as they do not harm anyone. When someone enters another house or country, they must respect the rules and traditions of that place, and this applies to all countries. As for the Quranic texts, the interpretation is always unified except in matters of the unseen loke allah’s face and when is the judgement day, which will only be revealed in their due time. There is a difference between Sunnis, who follow only allah and His Messenger, and those who selectively follow texts based on their preferences these are the shia which i believe you heard this info from, most of them aren’t even considered muslims they don’t even obey the first rule of islam worship allh alone, so keep this in mind the majority of the shia aren’t even muslims

[@TheRadioSquare]

@@r6sssj813 Customs are fine when they are informal, but if someone can expect harm, legal issues, or harassment from not following customs, then it crosses the line. Guests in almost any culture are usually granted respect and special treatment, to show your house/city/region/country in the best light. Respect always has to go both ways, so there's no way to deny someone who they are, while also asking them to respect who you are. Imagine if someone went to a predominately Christian country and were denied their right to perform namaz/salah, or were mocked/harassed/attacked for it. Nobody could defend it by calling it customs, it would be nothing but hate directed at someone for being different.

[@r6sssj813]

@@TheRadioSquare we are totally fine with it because we informed Muslim minorities in other countries to perform prayers and their houses as it should be if you are in a foreign country for the punishment you fear as we said before it’s an easy rule. Don’t kiss your girlfriend or boyfriend in public we consider it a private thing so we don’t want to see you do it. I’m sure you can hold yourself from kissing for four hours until you get back home ,That’s all It’s easy to follow. And if you still aren’t satisfied go watch your fellow western KZbinrs visiting Saudi Arabia and having a fun time, don’t get manipulated with what the media says. Yes we are different. We are not the same, different cultures different people we disagree with each other a lot but we are certainly not enemies.

[@naan-jf9gh]

@@r6sssj813 In your attempt to dissuade any fear of discrimination of other people, you discriminated against the Shia minority. You can't even stop yourself from discriminating against other Muslims, and yet you're asking people to believe you'll not discriminate against LGBT or Non-Muslims. Incredible.

[@naan-jf9gh]

@@TheRadioSquare He literally started discriminating another religious group in his country. He just denied Shia Muslims their identity, they don't even show respect to other Muslims, what chance do Non-Muslims have? I guess the Salafi/Wahabi Propaganda is good to him, just not the supposed Shi'ite one. Ridiculous hypocrisy.

[@Ishmaster2020]

Evo doesn’t need the saudis, the saudis can do their own thing, let the players take thier money

[@ahmedalanzi.]

Yes my country can buy and own evo

[@sadetwizelve]

And still treat women like shit

[@mansoor-_916]

Yeah just the usual “Saudi is making a right move and succeeding this isn’t good” let me insert human rights and lgbtq bullshit lol Keep trying your best you will and cannot change anything, and you’ll only prove the major success and support Saudi Arabia has provided for all esport fans, players and gaming companies across all the world

[@castro187guy]

People wear Nikes and addidas literally shoes made in a sweatshop for 2 $s a day by some lil kid who has to work 12 hour days . But going to a tournament in Saudi is bad because of there lack of rights lol nobody can judge nobody .

[@nateolison7553]

NIKE almost went out of business for that stuff. Where were you?

[@castro187guy]

@@nateolison7553 ok bro how about Apple or how about addidas most companies still outsource there work to poor countries were they take advantage of the people in the country and pay them low wages and nobodies checking ids trust me .

[@muhammedraashid3667]

​@@nateolison7553Sure, buddy...

[@chrislister570]

This could have the effect of opening Saudi culture to being more open to international influence which could lead to shifts in the treatments of women and minorities. Once that door is opened change is inevitable.

[@2saisai]

My guy. This will help shift the perception and all the Islamophobia and racism westreners have been fed for the past 30yrs. You guys just learned about Palestine despite us screaming about for 70yrs. That's how much sheltered and ignorant westreners are. And this video had so many mistakes. Its embarrassing. Women are doing fine. And whatever weird thing, he's insinuating about minorities. We simply don't have it.

[@aarr161616]

What kind of change you want to see in Saudi Arabia ? Let the change you want to see is positive , if the things you want to see are against our islamic teachings then we will reject that for sure.

[@naan-jf9gh]

@@aarr161616 LGBT Rights, removal of male guardianship laws, minority protections, freedom of press, etc.. You know. Thing's that make a modern nation. No one being realistic is asking for Pride parade in Riyadh, just laws that protect LGBT from discrimination and vigilantism, and promising repercussion against those crimes. You're asking for Western products, games, events, and films, and yet you can't even respect the people who make them, a large part of them being LGBT, whether in Japan or the US. EVO was built by many people in the LGBT. You can't even stop being racist to foreign workers, or discriminatory to Shia minorities. Per the Middle East Eye, Saudi forces were told to kill any tribespeople or Shia communities in the way of the NEOM project. Don't dare talk about any other country with that looking you in the mirror. If any of those things are "against Islamic teachings", make your own games, make your own events, make your own stuff, the gaming industry doesn't need Saudi, Saudi needs us, and if you're not willing to compromise, you shouldn't be here.

[@chrislister570]

@aarr161616 It is you who has decide what is or isn't against your religion. But if you choose to treat women as second class citizens, censor academia, and imprison or kill everyone who doesn't agree with your rigid standards; then you will never be able to compete with the rest of the world. You will not be able to attract athletes, artists, or academics to your country if that is how you treat them regardless of how much money you throw around. It's your choice.

[@HER0333]

Evo London needs to happen 🇬🇧

[@remyatempest6700]

A very large percentage of Gamers are LGB and many are Trans to. Also many are women that cos play and cos playing can be very very sexual clothing etc... and drinking is another thing at these events. I think its find ot test it put to host it one year, but to own it? Nah

[@six7264]

If the Saudi government buys EVO, I'm not watching EVO. The best part of the fighting game community is how chaotic and wild it is, and also how diverse the scene is. If any governmental body, Saudi or otherwise, starts curating and censoring people, I'm out that mf. I genuinely don't get why the US even cares about Saudi interest when we're quite literally one of the largest producers of oil and petroleum anyway. We've never needed foreign oil at all. We had such a surplus in barrels of oil that during Covid when nobody could drive, the price plummeted. If the Saudi's make their own organization, then let them compete. Stop trying to garner interest in your tourism by trying to own our businesses.

[@muhammedraashid3667]

We never needed foreign oil? But why does US' actions contradict that BS notion?

[@illiahryhorak5860]

Didn`t know that LGBTQ+ is a thing, when we talking about fighting games in Saudi. For me EWC just showed the opportunity and a reason to keep playing fighting games at the highest level. Those guys spend around 10 hours per day in their game, travel around the world, trying to be one of the best in the FGC. And now it is more then reasonable. I guess the only "danger", is that traveling around the world will switch to traveling to Saudi. But I don`t think that`s a big deal, since FGC will go to one place united.

[@trainingwolf]

It isn't about the FGC in Saudi (not) talking about LGBTQ+. People within the FGC usually don't care about who you are, only what skills you have. In the case of Saudi (as a country) it's the local beliefs/laws that are putting a risk on travelling there as LGBTQ+ person. Glad it seems to have gotten better for women tho, focus on how they clothe apparently is going down from what I've heard from female players. Still over the street call-outs for "showing a shoulder", less physical confrontations.

[@illiahryhorak5860]

@@trainingwolf Oh, I see now. Thanks for explanation.

[@2saisai]

​@illiahryhorak5860 saudi here. There isn't any danger at all. Whatever "danger" mentioned by westreners is as true as the WMDs in Iraq. 30yrs of brainwashing, racism, terrorism and anti-arab sentiment did a lot of damage to the perception of MENA as a whole. And now that the investments we made over 10yrs ago in different sectors, infrastructure, education and more, are coming to fruition. Some are holding on to manufactured and outdated stereotypes.

[@hussammoh3791]

Cry as much as you can, Saudi here to stay. You can not do anything for country that has 70% of its population under 35 years old. The prime minister himself 39 years old. Wake up!!

[@naan-jf9gh]

Under 35, lazy, fat, paid for by the government, supremacist, racist, aristocratic and uneducated. You have oil. And it's going to run out. You're the ones crying whenever the mirror is shown to you.

[@DarthNVious]

They need at least 10 centuries of Christianization to be at least trustworthy.

[@talaloxfjf692]

My brother, we are just people who love games and we just want a name for ourselves in them. It is not something very big. The country is open to anyone, regardless of their color or religion. Just one thing: respect us as much as we respect you as a guest. 👍🫡

[@ikpts]

People get convicted and sentenced to death for social media posts lol what is there to respect?

[@talaloxfjf692]

@@ikpts brother, the door is open for you if you want to enter. The choice is yours. No one is forcing you to do things. Know that there are cultures and traditions of other peoples 🤣👍

[@fatewin]

@@ikpts Ah yes grooming and teach LGBT for grade school

[@Splozy]

It's being built by slaves

[@litinup]

@@fatewinwhat about that one Saudi journalist huh? Yeah thought so hypocrite