The football world was stunned when global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo made his shock move to Al-Nassr in December 2022.
His transfer was not just a headline-grabber but a clear statement of intent from the Saudi Pro League (SPL).Ronaldo’s earth-shattering £173 million a year deal set a new benchmark for player wages, far surpassing anything offered in Europe.
His move paved the way for other top players such as Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Neymar to join the SPL. They were lured by similarly eye-watering financial packages.
SPL clubs collectively spent nearly $957 million on new players during the 2023 summer transfer window, much of which was funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
They used their seemingly bottomless financial resources to attract some of the best talent in Europe to fast-track the SPL’s development.
However, fast forward to today and it would be fair to say that the SPL is not living up to expectations. Read on as we take a closer look.
SPL Juggernaut Slows Down
While SPL clubs secured a couple of high-profile acquisitions from the Premier League, their overall spending painted a picture of a league that is becoming more cautious.
Ivan Toney and Joao Cancelo were among the players who moved to the SPL this summer, but you would be hard-pushed to argue they are headline-grabbing names.
With spending dropping dramatically to around $240m, it appears that the Saudis have pumped the brakes on their ambitious SPL project.
The tweak in spending could be due to several factors, one of which could be the realisation that their financial approach to strengthening the profile of the league is unsustainable.
Another reason could be the new regulation on foreign players. The SPL recently implemented rules that increased the limit of foreign players per team from eight to ten.
However, clubs are now required to have at least two non-Saudi players born in 2003 or later, which has made it more difficult to bring in established stars without offloading existing squad members.
Another factor could be the reluctance of top European players to leave their clubs for the SPL due it still being ranked as a footballing backwater.
Mohamed Salah and Vinicius Junior preferred to stay in Europe, where the prestige of playing in competitions such as the Premier League or La Liga is still unmatched.
Sponsorship & Broadcast Deals Fail to Hit the Mark
The SPL has made significant strides but they still have a long way to go before they can compete with Europe’s top leagues when it comes to generating commercial or broadcast revenue.
For example, the Premier League earns billions of dollars from broadcasting its matches around the world, which is crucial for its long-term financial success.
By contrast, the SPL’s broadcast reach is much smaller, and the deals they have in place are not nearly large enough to fuel their ambitious spending on players and infrastructure.
Sponsorship deals are another area where the SPL struggles to keep up. While some Saudi clubs have managed to attract big-name sponsors, they are still far behind the major European leagues in terms of the number of deals and the amount of money they bring in.
Although there is interest from international brands, it hasn’t yet resulted in the massive financial gains that the SPL needs to support its heavy spending on player wages and transfers.
The SPL also struggles to attract attention from the betting industry. Betting is heavily restricted in the Middle East due to cultural and religious reasons, so the rules limit the potential of the SPL to attract such revenue.
Even international betting sites for Arabic players, which cater to punters in the Middle East, face restrictions that prevent them from fully capitalising on the SPL’s growing popularity.
While some international betting companies have shown interest in the SPL, their involvement is minimal compared to their presence in European football.
Ronaldo’s Recent Comments Underline the SPL’s Issues
Ronaldo’s recent admission that money was the main reason for his move to the SPL shines a harsh light on the financial landscape of the league.
His comments proved the SPL is heavily reliant on using wealth to lure top talent rather than investing in local infrastructure.
Such an approach is unsustainable in the long run, especially when they are struggling to rake in commercial revenue via sponsorship, broadcast and the betting industry.
If the primary reason why players move to the SPL is the money, then it becomes less attractive or competitive when they decide to draw a line on their ridiculous expenditure on wages.
This could resultin a mass exodus of talent just as quickly as it lured them in, which would severely damage the SPL’s chances of ever becoming a major global player.
