Saudi Pro League has sold television rights to 140 countries since superstar Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr club.
Tournament leader Carlo Nohra told Bloomberg that the Saudi League’s TV rights revenue has increased 6.5 times since Ronaldo joined the team earlier this year. The presence of the 38-year-old striker also attracts a series of players from Europe to the Saudi League, such as Karim Benzema, Neymar, N’Golo Kante or Sadio Mane. “Our central goal is certainly to increase the brand value of the league and the teams,” added Nohra.
Nohra also revealed another goal of the tournament is to be allowed to send strong teams to the Champions League. The Saudi Football Federation and UEFA will negotiate to make this scenario a reality. But Nohra said that he still respects the AFC Champions League (Asian C1 Cup) because strong Saudi League teams are playing in this arena.
Saudi League representatives want to compete with top European leagues in the future, and what they are doing this year is just the beginning. “We’re trying to do things differently, and we’re open to change to grow,” added Nohra.
Premier League, Serie A, and Ligue 1 are all being broadcast in over 200 countries and territories, while La Liga is also broadcast in over 170 countries. The Saudi League has broadcast to 140 countries, but they still need to improve quality to increase the value of copyright contracts.
According to SportBusiness, the Saudi League generated $710,000 in revenue from 28 television rights sales in the 2022-2023 season. An increase of 6.5 times means that the tournament can collect more than 5.3 million USD this season. But that number cannot be compared to the top European tournaments with television revenue of hundreds of millions to billions of dollars per season.
At the age of 38, Ronaldo is still a bright star in the Saudi League, receiving a salary of $ 200 million per season. Money paid to him and the stars largely comes from the purse of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). The fund’s assets currently amount to 778 billion USD, according to Bloomberg.
