How the Saudi Pro League can conquer the world

There is some cynicism, particularly in Western Europe, around the Saudi Pro League’s growth prospects.

But it’s quite feasible the league becomes one of the most popular in the world in the next few years.

Because the battle for the future generation of fans is not happening in nations like England or France, but across Asia and Africa, where fans outnumber those across the rest of the planet.

Let’s dig into how the Pro League can tap into these huge demographic shifts, and how it plans to win over the new generation of football fans.

There is a strong existing fanbase for the league to build on

Saudi Arabia (unlike, say, China or Qatar) has a strong and long-standing fan culture.

Football is by far the country’s most followed sport, with a reported 80% of its 35 million inhabitants either playing or watching the sport.

The national team, the Green Falcons, are the second most successful in the history of the Asian Cup. They’ve qualified for 6 of the last 8 FIFA World Cups, beating Argentina in the most recent edition. Their U23 side recently won the AFC U23 Asian Cup without conceding a single goal.

Meanwhile, the country’s top 4 clubs (Al Nassr, Al Ahli, Al Ittihad, and Al Hilal) garnered large and passionate fanbases long before Neymar or Cristiano Ronaldo joined the league.

Matches between these teams are generally played in front of full and noisey stadiums1, and the club’s Arabic social media channels have long since rivalled top European clubs in terms of followers.

The league’s management team has extensive experience with Asian audience

The people charged with growing the league’s reach and revenues from its existing base all have significant experience working in Asian markets – their COO, Commercial Director, and Director have worked as VP for WWE Asia Pacific, Head of Southeast Asia for FC Bayern, and Managing Director of IMG South Asia respectively.

This is a strong indicator at where the league sees future potential opportunities and growth prospects.

The battle for the Asian audience

The map below shows some of the countries where the Pro League has secured broadcast deals.

Notice how strong the league’s reach is across Africa and Asia!

This is important because more than half the world’s football fans now reside in those two continents.

Countries like India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Nigeria now have far higher numbers of football fans than more mature markets such as the United Kingdom and Italy.

Their populations are also younger, growing more quickly, and more likely to follow football.

A huge audience closer to home

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region alone has a population of over 600 million people – three times that of Western Europe.

With close cultural, linguistic, and geographical ties to many of these countries, there is a huge potential audience for the Saudi Pro League across the region.

In fact, the league could still become one of the most viewed leagues in the world without ever gaining much traction beyond the dozen or so countries that surround it.

Tapping into changing models of fandom

A number of studies have shown that younger supporters across the world are becoming less monogomous with their choice of clubs, and often follow individual players more than they do clubs2.

This particularly applies to fans in Asia or Africa, who don’t have the same geographical or cultural ties to, say, Manchester United or AC Milan.

It’s normal, for example, for a Nigerian fan to support Chelsea in the Premier League, Barcelona in LaLiga, as well as watching and supporting whomever Lionel Messi happens to be playing for.

It’s perfectly reasonable to expect the Saudi Pro League could become part of that portfolio, especially when you look its stars – many of whom not just have massive global followings, but are icons in large countries with massive football followings like Algeria (population 46 million) or Brazil (214 million).

Just imagine how the league’s support can grow if it can tempt players like Mohamed Salah, revered across the Muslim world (from Egypt, population 113 million), and Victor Osimhen, a national obsession in Nigeria (population 213 million)!

New content distribution models for a new generation

Young people around the world are watching less and less live sport on traditional linear broadcasts, prefering to watch snippets and highlights on social media3.

This is a conundrum for many top sports leagues, because they rely on these linear broadcasts for a large part of their revenue.

The Saudi league, being less commercialised, is less reliant on these revenues and can thus afford to experiment with distribution channels that others might be reluctant to try, for fear of cannablising their broadcasting cash cow.

Mr Hutton, whose headed Media Partnerships at Meta before joining the Saudi Pro League, spoke at the recent World Football Summit (which you can watch here) earlier this month about the league’s plan to use non-traditional distribution models to reach a new generation of fans.

Hutton spoke about using influencers and athletes as distribution channels, alongside more traditional linear TV broadcasters, and about using short-form match content to engage with fans who might not tune in to a full game – he has previously stated that ‘short form can be the main dish as well as the appetiser.’

He referenced the league working with sports tech companies such as Greenfly and WSC, who specialise in live recording and distribution of short-form content.

The road ahead

A year ago, the Saudi Pro League was barely visible internationally.

Now, it can be viewed in almost every country around the world – including on major platforms like DAZN, Canal+ and FOX Sports.

The league has quickly become one of the most followed across many parts of Africa and Asia, even whilst skepticism remains in many European countries.

Based on comments from the league’s senior management team, it seems that the league sees the broader Asia region as a major growth opportunity, and that they are looking to go beyond the traditional broadcasting model in order to capture the youth market.

Few leagues in the world have the flexibility or funding to pursue these distribution models, or the same potential to reach the growing Asian market. The Saudi Pro League, despite its detractors, is well positioned to fulfil its goal of becoming a top 10 league – if not higher.