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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

Saudi Arabia fans wave flags before a World Cup qualifier in Jeddah. The country is sole bidder for the 2034 tournament

Roshn seeks contractors for Riyadh World Cup stadium

Saudi real estate developer Roshn is inviting expressions of interest from international and local contractors for its 45,000-seat football stadium in Riyadh. Iain McBride, Roshn’s head of commercial, said the Public Investment Fund subsidiary was actively seeking partners “very early in the process” to help “de-risk” the project. “What we don’t want is to design, […]

Bahrain's Minister of Finance and National Economy, Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa al-Khalifa speaks during a financial conference in Manama, Bahrain February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Bahrain’s Mumtalakat prizes local investment over global

Bahrain’s multi-billion dollar sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat is looking closer to home for investments, prioritising local over international opportunities. Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, minister of finance and national economy at Mumtalakat, said: “What we have found is the most compelling investment opportunities, the highest return on equity investments, are increasingly at home or […]

Mumtalakat, Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, took full ownership of McLaren Group in March

Abu Dhabi plans to buy stake in British carmaker McLaren

Abu Dhabi-backed CYVN Holdings has entered a non-binding agreement with Mumtalakat Holding, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, to buy a stake in British carmaker McLaren Group, with the potential to take ownership of its automotive business. The partnership aims to bolster McLaren with additional capital, advanced engineering expertise and technology, particularly in electric vehicles (EVs), the companies […]

Gyms such as Leejam are benefiting as Saudi Arabia attempts to motivate its citizens to pursue fitness

Saudi gym chain Leejam pumps up its profits

Leejam Sports Co has reported a net profit of SAR355 million ($94.5 million) for the first nine months of 2024, an increase of 56 percent compared with the same period last year. The Riyadh-based company’s revenue grew 18 percent year on year as subscriptions and membership revenue rose 14 percent, and paid programmes revenue climbed […]

Clothing, Hat, Aircraft

Saudi Arabia pins branding hopes on Riyadh Air launch

Saudi Arabia still hasn’t found the magic sauce for branding its social and economic reforms.  Hopes are high that the launch of Riyadh Air will do for the kingdom what Emirates airline did for Dubai, industry experts say. “We saw the journey of the UAE, how brands started there then became iconic on a global […]

Saudi Arabia government official and Inter Milan executives at the licence granting event

Inter Milan becomes first club to get Saudi investment licence

Italy’s Inter Milan has become the first international football club to receive a licence in Saudi Arabia. The ministry of investment licence will support the club in extending its brand presence in the Middle East and growing its fanbase. Inter Milan, or Nerazzurri, will bring its expertise and experience as a top-level football club to […]

A rendering of the Hot Wheels e-karting venue in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia launches e-karting racing tracks in 6 cities

Six cities in Saudi Arabia are set to get Hot Wheels e-karting racing tracks. The indoor e-karts will be a venture between Saudi Entertainment Ventures (Seven), part of Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), and US toy maker Mattel. The Hot Wheels e-karting will be available in entertainment complexes such as Riyadh, Makkah, Taif, Al Madinah, Tabuk, and Jazan. In January, Seven […]

Tony Douglas, CEO of Riyadh Air, seated left, and Miguel Ángel Gil, CEO of Atlético Madrid, seated right, unveil the new name of the football club's stadium

Riyadh Air signs stadium naming deal with Atlético Madrid

The new Saudi Arabian carrier Riyadh Air has agreed a deal with the Spanish football club Atlético Madrid to rename the team’s stadium after the Gulf state airline. Atlético Madrid’s stadium, the Estadio Metropolitano, opened in 2017, will now be called the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. The stadium sponsorship deal is scheduled to run until 2033, […]

Construction is well underway at King Salman Park in Riyadh. Developments in the city may take priority over giga-projects elsewhere

World Cup and Expo wins divert funding to Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s giga-projects have slowed down because of financing constraints – and now the government’s unexpected success in bidding for global events is redirecting even more resources towards Riyadh.  Even prestigious developments such as Neom, the $500 billion futuristic city in north-west Saudi Arabia, are taking second place. The priority is turning the capital into […]

Saudi Arabia is investing in the development of a sports culture and infrastructure; the first of Melee's Al Khobar social sports club is scheduled to be completed first

Egyptian developer invests $1bn in Saudi sports clubs

Egyptian real estate developer Melee will spend SAR4.5 billion ($1.2 billion) to establish three new sports clubs in the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar, according to a company executive. The club in Al Khobar is slated to be first in line for completion before the end of the year, Gasser Bahgat, Melee […]

Tiger Woods is on the PGA Tour Policy Board “transaction subcommittee” whose job it is to broker a deal with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund

Tiger Woods joins LIV Golf-PGA Tour merger talks

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is reported to be due to meet Tiger Woods and officials from the PGA Tour this week in New York as negotiations continue to bring the fractured sport of golf together under one umbrella. The PIF-sponsored LIV Golf series, which this month completes its third season, turned the sport […]

Ballpark figures: Baseball United investors and co-owners Felix Hernandez, Robinson Chirinos, Kash Shaikh and John Miedreich break ground at the site of the Middle East's first professional baseball park, in Dubai

Middle East’s first pro baseball park to open in Dubai

Construction has started on the first professional baseball field and ballpark in the Middle East and South Asia, which is being built on the outskirts of Dubai. Baseball United, which was launched over a year ago as the first professional league in the region, will call the Sevens sports and entertainment complex its home from […]

King Abdullah stadium north of Jeddah, built by BESIX. The Belgian contractor has started work on the 47,000-seater in Al Khobar

Construction starts on Aramco football stadium in Al Khobar

Construction has started on the Aramco football stadium in Al Khobar, one of the venues for the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia. Belgian construction group BESIX made the announcement on its website over the weekend, saying the goal of delivering the 47,000-seat stadium by 2026 would be “challenging”. BESIX is working with Riyadh-based contractor […]

Saud Abdulhamid in action for Saudi Arabia during the victory over Argentina in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar

Roma score commercial goal with Saudi signing

Italian football club AS Roma will be anticipating commercial opportunities that might arise after it signed 25-year-old Saudi Arabian defender Saud Abdulhamid this week.  Abdulhamid joined Roma from Al-Hilal in a deal worth $3.35 million. The transfer deal is the first involving a Saudi player and a major European league.  “When I received the offer, […]

economic benefits Morocco World Cup, Morocco economy

Morocco makes 2030 World Cup a focus for investment

The artist’s impression shows a massive polygonal structure, with an aluminium lattice roof draped in floating cream sheets.  This is the Grand Stade Hassan II de Casablanca at Benslimane, north of Morocco’s commercial capital. The successful design was unveiled earlier this week by the winning architects, the Casablanca-based Oualalou + Choi and the arena specialist […]

USA fans cheer during a Concacaf Nations League match. The country will co-host the 2026 Fifa World Cup with two other Concacaf members, Canada and Mexico

Saudi Arabia adds soccer in North America to sports portfolio

Saudi Arabia has added the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) to its squad of sporting investments. The kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund has partnered with the regional governing body for soccer “to support the growth of the sport at all levels”. The Public Investment Fund will sponsor football development initiatives, with […]

International investors previously faced 'restrictions on certain activities' and 'delays in transferring funds', but this will now change, says Mohammad Alshammari

Riyadh’s investment law reforms tipped to win over sceptics

Saudi Arabia’s investment law reforms are poised to release a backlog of pent-up deals – and are a tacit admission that procedures have often been cumbersome, analysts have told AGBI. Under the overhaul announced on Sunday, elements of Vision 2030 and the National Investment Strategy will be combined in a single framework that aims to […]

Football tourists Qatar

Football continues to attract tourists to Qatar

Qatar’s strategy of staging major sporting events continues to reap economic benefits, as regional football tournaments help to attract tourists to the Gulf state. Visitor numbers rose 28 percent in the first half of 2024, benefitting its hotels and wider hospitality businesses. A total of 2.6 million international tourists visited in the first six months […]

bids Saudi football teams

Investor bids invited for six Saudi football teams

Saudi Arabia this week opened bids for six football teams as part of its new drive to monetise the kingdom’s sport sector and raise its foreign direct investment numbers.  Local and international investors are invited to bid for Al-Okhdood, Al-Orouba and Al-Kholoud – all in Saudi Arabia’s top Pro League – as well as Al-Zulfi, […]

A Hundred cricket match between Oval Invincibles and London Spirit. Saudi Arabia may introduce a new team to the league

PIF could buy into English cricket’s The Hundred

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is reportedly considering buying a stake in the UK’s The Hundred cricket tournament. The potential move comes after confirmation that the sovereign wealth fund will next turn its attention to the sport.  PIF would acquire a new team to be established in Durham in England’s north-east, adding to the eight […]