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Anyone for cricket? Saudi Arabia’s next big sports play

Indian cricket fans during a match against Pakistan in London. The sport could be Saudi Arabia's next major investment James Boardman/Alamy via Reuters
Indian cricket fans during a match against Pakistan in London. The sport could be Saudi Arabia's next major investment
  • Must ‘invest heavily’, says minister
  • Considering American football
  • Medicine and equipment on radar

Saudi Arabia is aggressively courting much-needed foreign investment to commercialise its emerging sport sector, part of its Vision 2030 plan to diversify from its dependence on wealth from hydrocarbons.

Basim Ibrahim, director of sport investment development at Saudi’s Ministry of Investment, said the kingdom, which has already put its football clubs up for sale, is preparing to sell stadium rights and increase opportunities.

The government official told AGBI the country is also looking at potential deals related to cricket and American football, known as gridiron, to widen its vast portfolio of global sports investments.



This expansion comes as foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia fell short of the $100 billion annual target, reaching just $33 billion in 2022.

Sport, tourism and entertainment are crucial sectors in achieving this goal.

Despite progress building world-class sports venues, Ibrahim said Saudi Arabia has much to do in terms of privatising and maximising asset revenue through scheduled events.

“The problem is the utilisation and commercialisation of these facilities,” he said at the UK-Saudi Sports Investment and Innovation Forum in London last month. “It’s still an untapped market.”

In addition to club privatisation, the country is exploring commercialisation of its sports infrastructure.

Basim Ibrahim, director of sports sector investment development at Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Investment
Basim Ibrahim, director of sports sector investment development at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment

“We are looking at [offering] stadium naming rights,” Ibrahim said. “You will see it very soon.”

Opportunities in sport are becoming more important as the Gulf state scales back initial targets for its multi-billion dollar giga-projects, which are facing delays and budget deficits.

Naveen Bhojwani, at Rothschild & Co, said in January that while many projects are backed by the Ministry of Finance or PIF, their structuring has not been “too palatable” for international lenders.

AGBI reported last month that Neom is adopting stabilisation guarantees to encourage private sector investments.

Saudi’s sport sector is organised into 17 sub-sectors and 88 investment tracks, covering everything from sports education to medicine and manufacturing.

It is forecast to grow from SAR30 billion ($8 billion) to SAR84 billion by 2030.

However, Ibrahim said the infrastructure lacks certain facilities, such as a dedicated sports university and sports hospital, and local manufacturing capabilities for sports equipment – gaps he is eager to fill.

“We are in discussions with multiple companies to start manufacturing simple equipment here,” he said.

“We’re looking at attracting technical partners to help us create more sports academies.” 

Saudi Arabia’s investments have fast extended to a wide array of sports once seen as niche or non-existent in the country including golf, Formula 1, boxing, mixed martial arts, tennis, baseball, snooker, rugby and darts.

These efforts have rapidly boosted the country’s visibility, which media analytics consultancy Carma suggests has given it “soft power”.

While some critics have labeled these efforts as sportswashing – the practice of improving reputations that have in the past been tarnished – Ibrahim argues that the developments are part of an economic development strategy that boosts various sectors including hospitality, tourism and financial services. 

“If you want to unlock a new sector, it’s very expensive,” he said. 

“You need to invest heavily. It’s not about hosting the Formula One and boxing just to show off. It’s to support other sectors. It’s to put Saudi Arabia on the map.”

The country hopes its massive transformation will make it one of the world’s top seven economies by 2030, with tourism accounting for 10 percent of its GDP.

Meanwhile, the state is also exploring new sports ventures, promising more major events.

“You will see a lot of new sports heading to Saudi Arabia,” Ibrahim said.

“We are exploring cricket right now, so you might see Saudi being one of the newest destinations for cricket.

“We’re talking about American football and baseball. There is more motorsport coming, more of the biggest events and biggest intellectual properties. I would say you haven’t seen anything yet.”