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Business of Sport

Sports business news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

FORMULA 1 STC SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX 2023

Saudi ticketing app webook plans European expansion

Riyadh-based Webook, which describes itself as Saudi Arabia’s largest booking platform for events and experiences, says it is expanding beyond the Middle East into Europe to tap a growing market for ticketing. Set up in 2016 under the name Hala Yalla, Webook initially focussed as a service to book football pitches, before expanding to include […]

McLaren's Oscar Piastri passes the chequered flag to win the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 13, 2025

Saudi Arabia explores options to own F1 team

Owning a Formula 1 team could be the next step for Saudi Arabia after sponsoring the sport and hosting a grand prix, according to the chairman of the kingdom’s automobile and motorcycle federation. Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal told reporters in a video call ahead of this weekend’s race in Jeddah that the interest […]

The 2025 Esports World Cup in Riyadh includes 24 games, adding chess and shooting games such as Crossfire and Valorant

Riyadh offers record prize pool at Esports World Cup

Riyadh will host the Esports World Cup this summer, offering a record prize pool of more than $70 million as the kingdom aims to become a global gaming centre. The tournament, which will run from July 7 through August 24, includes 24 games this season, adding chess and shooting games such as Crossfire, Fatal Fury: […]

Saudi football soccer

Former Saudi owner of English soccer club returns to pitch

The former Saudi royal owner of the English Championship side Sheffield United, Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, is returning to the football market with a sports investment fund worth as much as SAR1 billion ($266 million). Prince Abdullah told the Sports Investment Forum in Riyadh this week that his group intends to […]

The highway projects intend to improve access to the Grand Stadium in Casablanca for the World Cup, which Morocco will jointly host with Spain and Portugal

Morocco’s $1.3bn highway overhaul for 2030 World Cup

Morocco plans to invest MAD12.5 billion ($1.3 billion) to develop its highway infrastructure for the 2030 Fifa World Cup. The investments, spanning from 2025 to 2032, will focus on three major projects: the Continental Rabat-Casablanca Highway, Tit Mellil-Berrechid Highway, and Ain Harrouda and Sidi Maarouf junctions, Morocco News World reported citing a statement from the […]

Sport Clubs operates 56 branches across 18 cities in Saudi Arabia

Sport Clubs gets nod to list 30% on Saudi bourse

Riyadh-based Sport Clubs Company has received approval to float 30 percent of its share capital on the Saudi stock exchange. The Capital Market Regulator has given its nod to sell 34.3 million shares on the main market. The approval will be valid for six months but is deemed cancelled if the initial public offering (IPO) […]

Newcastle United players in a penalty shoot-out versus Chelsea. The PIF-backed club may be playing to bigger crowds if plans for a 65,000-capacity stadium go ahead

PIF considers new stadium for Newcastle United

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is considering funding a new stadium development for English Premier League (EPL) side Newcastle United, according to UK media reports. The Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has over $925 billion worth of assets, led a buyout of Newcastle in October 2021, alongside PCP Capital Partners and RB Sports & Media […]

Dubai sports zone park desert classic

Sports and entertainment park added to Dubai’s free zones

Dubai is adding a sports and entertainment business park to its more than 30 free zones. The International Sports and Entertainment Free Zone (ISEZA), which will be housed inside the existing Dubai World Trade Centre free zone, will compete with similar sports technology business parks in Saudi Arabia, Singapore and even Israel. Dubai’s free zones […]

Red Bull will not put its logo on the Al Ahly team's shirts or around the team's stadium in Cairo

Boost for Arab soccer as Red Bull sponsors Al Ahly

Egypt’s most successful football club has kicked off what could become a sponsorship rush from European companies into the country’s top league. Al Ahly of Cairo, winners of 44 Egyptian Premier League titles and 12 Confederation of African Football Champions League titles, has agreed a marketing partnership with the Austrian drinks company Red Bull.  No […]

Vergil Ortiz Jr fights Israil Madrimov in a World Boxing Council bout at anb Arena in, Riyadh. The new Saudi-US plan hopes to reduce the amount of boxing organisations

Saudi Arabia signs deal with TKO for boxing promotion

Saudi Arabia could land a blow to boxing traditionalists after the launch of a new promotion. TKO Group, the US media conglomerate that has World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) under its banner, has entered a multi-year agreement with the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, vowing to implement widespread changes to how boxing […]

Newcastle United players in a match versus Nottingham Forest. The club has reduced its losses as revenues increase

Saudi-backed Newcastle United narrows losses to $14m

Saudi Arabia-backed Newcastle United Football Club has reported an £11 million ($14 million) loss for the last financial year, despite a 30 percent increase in revenues. The deficit at the Public Investment Fund majority owned English Premier League club was reduced by £60 million year on year, attributed largely to the money gained from qualifying […]

Abdihamid Nur (USA) and Paul Chelimo (USA) lead the 5000 meters during the World Athletics Championships Budapest23 at The National Athletics Centre

PIF unit considers investment in World Athletics arm

A Saudi Arabia-backed sports fund is considering investing in a new body that World Athletics may potentially set up to manage the sport’s commercial rights, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The sport’s governing body has been considering establishing a new company to manage rights and bring in cash from a new investor, the people said. […]

Person, Football, Sport

Stadium naming rights for sale ahead of World Cup

It is early days yet but the commercial case for local and international private sector companies sponsoring sports arenas in Saudi Arabia may yet emerge, after the 2034 host of the Fifa World Cup opened its stadiums to naming rights. For the moment, however, it looks as if state-backed companies with a mandate to promote […]

Marc Leishman at the LIV Golf Riyadh tournament – LIV Golf's losses increased in the year to April 2024

LIV Golf losses outside US widen to almost $400m

Saudi-government owned LIV Golf posted a second year of financial losses, widening to almost $400 million in the 12 months to April 5, 2024, through its global tournaments outside the US. UK-based LIV Golf Ltd has attracted some of the world’s biggest names in the sport and runs tournaments in Australia, Singapore, Spain, Mexico, the […]

Dazn PIF Saudi sports

PIF’s $1bn Dazn deal creates new Mena sports streamer

Surj Sports Investment, a unit of Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), has acquired a minority stake in UK-based global sports network Dazn.  The deal, believed to be worth $1 billion, will establish new broadcasting joint venture Dazn Mena, which the companies say will broadcast live and on-demand sports from Saudi Arabia. The partnership will also […]

Qatar racecourse Racing and Equestrian Club Doha

Contractors invited to bid for Qatar racecourse expansion

Qatar has started inviting contractors to bid on the expansion of its second-largest horse racecourse. The design and build contract covers the development of the fourth phase of the Al Uqda equestrian complex. This covers expansion of the existing track, a new straight racecourse, an additional grandstand of 5,000 square metres for spectators, a new […]

PIF basketball

PIF backs $5bn NBA rival basketball league

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is planning to back a new $5 billion basketball competition in Europe and Asia that’s expected to rival the US’s National Basketball Association (NBA), according to media reports. The unnamed tournament will feature six men’s and six women’s teams playing in eight host cities in Europe and Asia. The competition […]

Colombian player Jhon Duran, aged 21, is moving from UK Premier League club Aston Villa to Saudi club Al Nassr

Saudi football spending takes youthful turn as big names depart

It says much for the evolution of football in Saudi Arabia that the main talking points of the winter transfer-window were of individuals leaving the league rather than multi-million dollar signings. The majority of headlines in the last week of January were devoted to the departures of Brazilian forward Neymar, effectively having his contract ripped […]

The Saudi facilities management market is expected to grow at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate, expanding to about $56 billion by 2032

AlMajal AlArabi considers listing on Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul

Saudi Arabia’s AlMajal AlArabi Group (MAG) is considering an initial public offering on the Tadawul main market and has appointed Riyad Capital as an adviser, people familiar with the plans told AGBI. The Riyadh-based facilities management and construction company is exploring a share sale as Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure and services sectors expands, driven by multi-billion-dollar […]