The Saudi Pro League has sold television rights to 140 countries since superstar Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al Nassr.
Carlo Nohra’s head of operations told Bloomberg that revenue from the Saudi League’s TV rights has increased 6.5-fold since Ronaldo joined the team earlier this year. The presence of the 38-year-old striker also attracted a series of players from Europe to the Saudi League, such as Karim Benzema, Neymar, N’Golo Kante or Sadio Mane. “Our focus is definitely to increase the brand value for the league and the teams,” Nohra added.
Ronaldo with the Arab Club Champions Cup title with Al Nassr in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Aug. 12, 8. Photo: ANFC
Nohra also revealed that another goal of the tournament is to be allowed to send strong teams to the Champions League. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation and UEFA will negotiate to make this vision a reality. But Nohra says he still respects the AFC Champions League, because Saudi League teams are playing in the competition.
The Saudi League representatives want to compete with Europe’s top leagues in the future, and what they are doing this year is just the beginning. “We are trying to do things differently, and are ready to change in order to grow,” Nohra added.
The Premier League, Serie A or Ligue 1 are all being broadcast in over 200 countries and territories, while La Liga is also covering over 170 countries. The Saudi League has broadcast to 140 countries, but it still needs quality improvements to increase the value of its licensing deals.
According to SportBusiness, the Saudi League generated $710,000 in revenue from 28 TV rights sales for the 2022-2023 season. The 6.5x increase means the league could collect more than $5.3 million this season. But that number is not comparable to Europe’s top leagues with TV revenues 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. The money paid for him and the stars largely came from the purse of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The fund’s assets now amount to $778 billion, according to Bloomberg.
