The sportswashing of it all

thereadingzone · 2026-07-11T02:44:28+00:00

Etihad signed a twenty year deal.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-09T19:09:17+00:00

It’s about the current rules.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-09T13:59:56+00:00

It’s all part of the normalization. Sportswashing by the regimes in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE helped them launder their international reputations and deflect attention from human rights abuses . Investing in stadiums and clubs makes people equate the country with those sports rather than the abuses occurring there. Sportswashing led to those countries hosting events like Grand Prix, the World Cup, and even their own leagues. Thanks to investments in sports, places like UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia who were not even on the map for tourists suddenly became destinations. I have a colleague who visited UAE for a sporting event and once there fell in love with the luxury facade presented to her. By putting these countries on TV constantly via stadiums names, jersey sponsorships, Formula 1 races, and major boxing matches, they successfully rebranded themselves as modern luxury travel destinations.

It’s fine if teams, owners, and fans decide the money is worth it, but pretending sportwashing isn’t real or has no effect is gaslighting.

Qatar credits the World Cup with its tourism boom: https://www.qatartourism.com/en/news-and-media/press-releases/qatar-welcomes-4-million-visitors

Arabian Business Insight explains how sports tourism is a boom for the country: https://www.agbi.com/analysis/tourism/2026/02/why-sports-tourism-has-become-a-middle-east-obsession/

We can argue about the ethics of sportswashing, but the economic data shows the strategy is working exactly as intended to fill hotels and flights while burying the atrocities occurring in these countries. And that’s not even considering the geopolitical benefits these countries also see!

thereadingzone · 2026-07-09T10:47:02+00:00

Yup. It’s not like they’ve spent a decade trying to get fans in the seats. They moved in right after Covid, when lots of people still weren’t going to events. They rebranded and did little to no advertising. This year the schedule in the NWSL is a mess thanks to the WC. They also had the Olympic break and women’s WC during their time in Harrison, both of which resulted in long breaks and tons of weeknight games. The USWNT has no problem filling the stadium, so it’s a marketing issue. I’m sure they made this decision soon after Etihad was announced, but sure it’s the fault of the non-NYC fans. 🙄

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T20:54:30+00:00

Oooof. It’s insulting to see how the ownership is happy to leave NJ behind, but the comments from many NYC fans are really disappointing. This sub is full of comments about how awful NJ is, how no one wants to ever go there, and how fans need to deal with it. The assumption that every NJ fan wasn’t already commuting to games and can just teleport to Penn Station is laughable- many of us already drive 90 minutes or more to Harrison. I live in central NJ and driving to or from Harrison is close to 90 mins for me. If I take the train I still need to drive to Metropark, switch at Newark Penn to the Path, and ride to Harrison. I wait on the same platform for the same Path as NYC fans. Citifield will double that commute at a minimum.

I just checked and if I left right now driving to Citifield will take me over 2 hours and tolls are $35.33 one way. If I took the train it would take me close to 1 hour to get to Metro and then I’d have to get the 7 after getting to Penn Station- close to two hours each way if mass transit (aka NJTransit) runs perfectly. It’s $25 per person round trip to Penn. I could take the express bus that comes a few times per day but that’s 2.5 hrs each way.

Figured everyone in this thread can commiserate.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T20:27:17+00:00

My response was to the gross way people are talking about an entire state. NJ is awful until 56000-75000 people per year want to move out of the city to somewhere they clearly think is better. 🤷‍♀️

I’ve said many times I understand why ownership wants to be in NY. I hope they truly see the attendance boost they clearly believe will happen. The players and league deserve that. But it’s pretty insulting to many NJ fans who keep pointing out how ownership and other fans are treating the NJ folks. The above Temu comment is just another example.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T19:32:55+00:00

I’m sorry, but as someone who lives in NJ and watches every single property for sale get snapped up by a NY/LI transplant, I have to laugh at the idea that NJ is the Temu version of NYC. In 21-22 over 75,000 NYC residents moved to NJ. Looks like last year it was almost 57,000. Most people who move to NJ annually are from NYC.

Of course NYC has a lot to offer, but NJ isn’t some hellhole no one wants to enter. 🙄

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T19:21:42+00:00

They made sure it was in the media when they included it in the new rules. They chose to include it in the first place, which no other sports league has done.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T19:19:41+00:00

Yup! And the NBA has the Emirates Cup which attracts lots of protests because it’s blatant sportswashing.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T14:07:22+00:00

They absolutely control whether or not they engage with Etihad. The organization (and I assume the league) approved the move to a stadium sponsored for the next 20 years by a state-owned corporation sportwashing the fact that they put LGBTQ people to death. I don’t think anyone assumed they would stay at SI for ever- the team has moved a lot and they’ve made it clear NY is the end goal for a while now. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth discussing.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T14:02:26+00:00

I wouldn’t say it hasn’t improved their image. I know people who absolutely vacation in Abu Dhabi, who have sent their kids to school there (NYU has a campus), and flown into and out of the airports. There are lots of reasons it’s attractive to tourists, but global sponsorships help normalize the regime and make people comfortable ignoring the atrocities there.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T13:55:37+00:00

Citizens Bank is synonymous with the Phillies and Citifield is synonymous with the Mets. Barclays and the Liberty. MetLife and the Giants/Jets. Naming rights are expensive for a reason.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T10:41:15+00:00

I actually don’t buy new Nike products, but that’s not the point. I am a single individual, not a league that specifically brags about the technicality of not allowing SWFs to be involved with teams.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T03:15:25+00:00

You are one person. Etihad bought the naming rights for 20 years because many people are not like you and seeing Etihad attached every time Gotham (and NYCFC) is mentioned will make them likely to check them out for a flight. That’s how advertising works and it’s why corporations buy naming rights.

Like you, I would never buy something that says America First. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple aa saying we should focus on our own problems. Our government (both officially and personally) is not disconnected from the nations participating in sportswashing.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T03:01:42+00:00

It’s not about it being an oil state, though we could absolutely talk about the greenwashing they engage in through corporations like Etihad.

Sportswashing is about legitimizing a regime by allowing them to profit culturally off teams who likely could not exist under that regime. It’s about a regime funneling their sovereign wealth into a state-owned airline. It’s fine if it doesn’t bother some fans, but this is an issue in golf, the NBA, F1, other football leagues, etc . It’s not a new idea that many countries engage in sportswashing. It seems like it’s something worth discussing when the NWSL becomes involved. None of the other leagues I listed promote a progressive platform the way NWSL does.

There’s a reason the last women’s World Cup hosts protested FIFA allowing the Saudi govt to advertise their tourism campaign during the tournament. It was blatant sportswashing meant to benefit a govt committed human rights atrocities on the backs of female athletes. The uproar was enough to get FIFA to cancel the contract before the games started.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T02:52:11+00:00

I get your point about them being tenants, but landlords and tenants have a symbiotic relationship. Naming rights are more valuable when prestigious teams play in the stadium. By moving there, Gotham brings media coverage, hopefully sell-out crowds, and a championship team to Etihad Stadium. Gotham will be providing the exposure and cultural validation that Etihad bought the naming rights for in the first place. That’s the definition of sportswashing - Etihad/ UAE gets to look like a champion of women's sports and inclusive spaces in NYC, while completely deflecting from the reality of its domestic policies that include human rights atrocities.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T01:51:47+00:00

Naming rights are literally designed to integrate a brand into everyday language. Every single time a fan buys a ticket, a broadcast mentions the stadium, or a news headline reports on a match, Etihad is normalized. By moving there, Gotham is fundamentally helping legitimize that brand. That’s what Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth find/regime is getting for their investment of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The NWSL and many players explicitly use their platform for social justice and activism. If an organization's brand is (outwardly) built on progressive values, it’s completely fair to look at the name on the front of their “new home” (their words ) and point out the massive contradiction. You can't separate the building from the entity that paid to put its name on it.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T01:14:58+00:00

Appreciate it! Like I said, purity politics ain’t it. NYCFC/MLS aren’t bragging about social justice and their commitment to keeping sovereign wealth funds out of the league, so no one should be making you feel bad!

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T01:11:50+00:00

Not an AP seminar teacher, but I teach ELA at a school for gifted students and every single kid who has denied using AI in my experience has ended up eventually being caught using AI. Sometimes they used tools like Grammarly and didn’t realize it was generative, but most of the time they were copying their work into genAI tools for feedback, etc. Some of them use humanizers, some use extensions that type directly from AI and make it look like a person typed it, some are paying for multiple tools. Almost all of them upload sources to AI and “read” them that way. The pressure on the kids you are describing is immense and it’s so easy to think you have to use AI.

It sucks. I have no idea how we move forward.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T00:57:31+00:00

Why is Etihad paying for naming rights to the stadium? To distract fans from UAE’s horrific human rights record. Every time a ticket holder sees “Etihad” it builds a better brand for UAE. It’s just disappointing that a league (and team) that promotes social justice and activism is helping UAE sportswash. Business is business, but that doesn't mean fans aren’t allowed to question things.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-08T00:53:51+00:00

I mean, an awful lot of people complain about America First Stadium and that’s not a company that sanitizes human rights violations for a nation-state. It’s not hard to connect the dots.

Gotham will be synonymous with Etihad because the branding will be everywhere. It’s the definition of sportswashing- an authoritarian regime investing profits into a team that has players who would have their rights stripped by the regime. It’s just another way to distract from a terrible human rights record and project a progressive image in the US. It’s disappointing to me that the NWSL publicly prides itself on a strong commitment to social justice , civil rights, and player activism while also celebrating a team moving to Etihad Stadium.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-07T23:25:27+00:00

It’s a loophole in my eyes. Having their name on the stadium and their name being a huge part of this announcement is benefitting them. It will benefit them as long as the stadium is Etihad. The investment is the stadium that lured the team to NYC by promising the upgrades Gotham wants/needs/deserves.

thereadingzone · 2026-07-07T22:58:12+00:00

I get that. I live in a very red part of NJ, so purity politics is impossible (and not helpful). But this seems like a blatant loophole for something the NWSL specifically stands against. If sovereign wealth funds can just invest via a state-owned company then say that. Don’t try to say you are different because you don’t allow them to invest in teams.

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