Soccer stars Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema announced their intentions to play in smaller leagues in the United States and Saudi Arabia. In an article for The Conversation, , U-M professor of sport management, discusses the strategy of buying aging stars from European leagues to promote interest in an emerging soccer nation. Szymanski explores this long-standing tradition, the competition among leagues, and how in the case of Saudi Arabia, this can be a game of money and image laundering.
