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Business of sport: Where the Middle East money goes

By Shruthi Nair

The World Economic Forum has reported that the Middle East’s sports industry is expected to grow by 8.7 percent by 2026, compared with global sector growth of 3.3 per cent over the same period.

AGBI recently hosted the Business of Sport roundtable covering a wide range of pressing topics, including M&A activities; outbound vs inbound investments into the Gulf region; regulatory challenges; the evolution of sports broadcasting and the power of unscripted content; and whether the next football World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia. 

On the panel are:

Robin Butteriss, partner and corporate finance advisor at consultancy firm Deloitte Middle East. Deloitte’s Sports Business Group caters to clients across 40 countries and 30 different sports. 

Klaus Kajetski, founder and CEO of Yalla Esports, one of the region’s largest gaming and esports agencies.

Azhar Muhammad Saul, COO of Paradigm Sports, a multi-sport business and media company with clientele including the martial artists Conor McGregor and Johnny Walker, the kickboxer Rico Verhoeven, and American football player Josh Tupou.

Watch the video to find out why, according to Butteriss, there is a “torchlight focused on this region”.

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