In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf league that’s challenging the PGA Tour. Can a sporting event really repair a country’s reputation — or will it trigger the dreaded Streisand Effect? Also: why the major U.S. sports leagues are warming up to the idea of foreign investment. SOURCES:Jodi Balsam, professor of clinical law at Brooklyn Law School.Brandel Chamblee, Golf Channel analyst.Karen Crouse, sports journalist.Bomani Jones, sports journalist.Victor Matheson, professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross.Alan Shipnuck, sports journalist. RESOURCES:"The New N.F.L. Owners?" by Lauren Hirsch, Kevin Draper, Michael J. de la Merced and Sarah Kessler (The New York Times, 2024)."PGA Tour Raises $1.5 Billion From Group of U.S. Investors," by Lauren Hirsch (The New York Times, 2024)."PGA Tour, LIV Golf Agree to Merge," by Andrew Beaton and Louise Radnofsky (The Wall Street Journal, 2023).Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar, by Alan Shipnuck (2022)."Dustin Johnson Paid £100m to Perform Late U-Turn and Join Saudi-Backed Rebel Series," by By James Corrigan and Tom Morgan (The Telegraph, 2022)."Russia Was the Hottest Place in Sports. Now It’s Frozen Out," by Joshua Robinson, Ben Cohen, and Louise Radnofsky (The Wall Street Journal, 2022)."Could This Be the Year ‘Sportwashing’ Backfires?" by Andrés Martinez (The Los Angeles Times, 2022)."The Truth About Phil and Saudi Arabia," by Alan Shipnuck (The Fire Pit Collective, 2022).The New Yale Book of Quotations, by Fred Shapiro (2021)."The Surprising Reason That There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America," by Myles Karp (Vice, 2018). EXTRAS:"Greg Norman Takes On the P.G.A. Tour," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2023).

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.