Recently, Kylian Mbappe was offered a one-year contract worth 776 million dollars to play in the Saudi Professional League, Saudi Arabia’s professional soccer league. While Mbappe declined the offer, the curcumsatince highlights the growing rise of sports in Saudi Arabia. After Cristiano Ronaldo joined the Saudi soccer league in January, other players this summer joined the league as well to take the lucrative deals the league offered. Beyond soccer, Saudi Arabia has ventured into the world of Golf, Formula One, and Boxing. Notably out of the three, the Saudis made their own Golf league to compete with the PGA Tour, called LIV Golf, which has also recently merged with the PGA. Now after all the years solely focused on oil, why is Saudi Arabia venturing into the world of sports?
On May 3, 1938, oil was first found in Saudi Arabia and became a blessing to the newly established nation. Before the discovery of oil, the nation heavily relied on tourism, specifically the atraction of the city of Mecca- the holy city in the Muslim faith. With the discovery of oil, the Saudis had a way into the rapidly increasing market of oil. But, the finding of oil didn’t just create wealth, it created political tension and war.
Following the Sauidis discovery in 38' moving into the 40s other middle eastern countries began to explore their respective natural oil supplies. As the market grew, with Saudi Arabia remaining on top, the United States became large consumers of Saudi Arabia’s oil. However, tensions arose due to the United States backing Israel. This led to Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries performing an oil boycott. The boycott caused an energy crisis in the United States, demonstrating the pure dependance on Saudi oil. Once tensions began to settle, oil prices began to drastically increase, leading Saudi Arabia to gain more wealth and power. This realized monoply and power, caused Saudi Arabia’s economy to become dependent on the production and export of their prized oil.
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Moving into the 21st century Saudi Arabia remains an oil monoply. In 2000 Saudi Arabia produced 9,470,000 barrels of oil per day. This number continued to rise, and in 2016, Saudi Arabia produced over 12 million barrels of oil per day. While this may be impressive, it demonstrated a clear economic reliance on one industry. It was around this time that Saudi Arabia began to delve into the world of sports and entertainment. In 2016, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salmen, launched the Saudi Vision 2030 in order to diversify the country's economic pallete. The first major investment occurred in 2018, when Saudi Arabia and Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) agreed to a 10-year deal, worth 100 million dollars.
Presently, Saudi Arabia has a specific focus on soccer, the biggest sport in the world. The Saudi government invested in the English Premier League, the world’s biggest soccer and domestic league. The Saudi Arabian government bought a majority share in the English team Newcastle. With the Saudi's spending, the team went from almost getting relegated to a lower league to making it into the biggest club tournament in soccer, the UEFA Champions League. While in their domestic league, the government of Saudi Arabia bought the majority share in four of their teams, Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Alhi, and Al Ittihad. While Saudi Arabia has left their mark on the present of sports, what is in their future?
While Saudi Arabia is able to diversify its economy with sports, it does not seem that sports have one purpose for Saudi Arabia. By acquiring high-quality sports, the country is able to increase its tourism. Fans, in theory, will travel to Saudi Arabia to watch their favorite players and then also explore the nation for its other qualities. The reinfoced value of sports and entartainment may atract stars to play in saudi arabia and potentially help the nation win its World Cup bid for 2030, which will serve as a posotive feedback loop, furthermore increasing tourism. By delving into the realm of sports, Saudi Arabia is able to launch their nations economy into the future, one where they can faze out their reliance on oil.