The Saudi Pro League is the most talked-about and arguably the most ambitious domestic sports project in MENA history. Its future remains the source of real debate.

Yet the activity throughout the Saudi football pyramid is worthy of attention for brands in the Gulf region and beyond.  

As local life resumes its usual rhythms after the long, hot summer, the SPL has kicked off for what could be a hugely consequential 2024/25 campaign. In many ways, this could be the season where we begin to see the longer arc of the league’s trajectory.

12 months ago, there seemed to be no upper limit on what Saudi clubs were prepared to spend in acquiring talent – and on who could be convinced to join in. Al-Nassr’s January 2023 signing of the great Cristiano Ronaldo signalled an altogether different level of intent and triggered a step-change in the SPL’s profile. 

Serious investment followed. In June 2023, the national Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed that it would be putting its resources behind four founding SPL members: Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal, alongside Al-Nassr.

That enabled a near-unprecedented $1 billion wave of new arrivals, headlined by big names like Neymar, Karim Benzema and Roberto Firmino but encompassing a surprising range of backgrounds and age profiles. 

In 2024, however, the transfer market has been quieter – leading some observers to ask whether the project is losing momentum. The reality may be somewhat more nuanced, as the league takes its place in a strategy encompassing the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, the 2034 FIFA World Cup, and a vision for greater influence around the football world. 

Building commercial foundations

If last year was defined by player recruitment, the build-up to the 2024/25 Saudi Pro League season has been marked by off-field moves in commercialisation and recapitalisation. 

In July, sports media giant IMG confirmed that it would be expanding its partnership with the league and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF). It will serve as the broadcast producer for the SPL, the King’s Cup and the Saudi Super Cup until the end of 2028/29, implementing remote production capabilities and integrated storytelling for an improved on-screen product. 

IMG is also the global distributor of media rights for the SPL, whose games were carried in more than 160 countries across over 40 platforms in 2023/24.

Further investment is planned in stadium infrastructure in a bid to stimulate matchday attendances, which averaged just over 8,000 league-wide last season. There are 11 elite stadiums in development for the 2034 World Cup bid, some of them in new cities like Neom. Taken together, these initiatives are central to plans to generate more sustainable long-term revenues.

Meanwhile, the Saudi authorities have also been encouraging private investment into clubs in the SPL and the lower tiers. 

Six teams – Al-Okhdood, Al-Orouba and Al-Kholoud in the SPL and the second-tier Al-Zulfi, Al-Nahda, Al-Ansar – have been offered to prospective domestic and overseas buyers. A further eight are expected to be put up for sale later in 2024, while state-funded businesses Aramco and Diriyah Gate Project have assumed ownership of the SPL’s Al-Qadisah and third-tier Al-Diriyah respectively. 

Identifying changing opportunities

This broader-based approach to developing club football in Saudi Arabia could lead to more diverse sponsorship and marketing possibilities. 

The greater resources available to teams in the First Division League – which itself recently signed a three-year naming rights sponsorship renewal with car rental company Yelo – could nourish the promotional environment over time. Yet as might be expected, there is a significant leap in profile and financial capacity for promoted teams. 

Aramco-backed Al Qadsiah, winners of the Yelo League title in 2023/24, have added big-money signings like the former Arsenal and Marseille star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nacho, who captained Real Madrid to the UEFA Champions League title in June. Collectively, Al Qadsiah’s incoming recruits have 36.7 million followers between them across Instagram and Twitter.

The visibility that arises from factors like this is reflected in market value: according to GSIQ’s own intelligence, advertising spot rates go up by over five times on average for teams promoted from the Yelo League to the SPL.

There is considerable scope for sponsors to make a bigger impact in the Yelo League. GSIQ discovered this using its proprietary SIQ+ tool to analyse coverage of Al Qadsiah’s final match of last season against Al Safa.

We found that of just under two hours and 25 minutes of total brand exposure from in-venue assets, 66% was delivered to Yelo and other central partners of the First Division League. By contrast, in the final round SPL game between Al Nassr and Al Ittihad, only 36% of the total brand exposure generated went to central sponsors. 

To look at this another way, even at this stage of Saudi club football’s acceleration, there is already greater room for sponsors to explore in backing the Yelo League and its teams. The lower entry point and relatively reduced clutter could offer greater return on investment in the long run – and may also be more attractive to partners who are new to the Saudi market. 

For these companies, getting involved at the Yelo League level could bring a host of other attendant benefits. While it would naturally be less suited to a mass exposure play than the SPL, sponsorship here could lend itself to community development messaging and an emphasis on the brand’s role in reinforcing the Saudi football pyramid. And, of course, the partner of a club promoted to the SPL would not only receive a boost in exposure – they could also share in the story of that success.   

At this point, much will depend on how effectively the Saudi sports authorities and the PIF can follow through on their intention to truly deepen the football fanbase and economy in the country. But if they do succeed in those aims, then it will be important for brands to look past those dramatic headlines and take a more expansive view.