Salam Aleikum Sports World!
What the Future of Football Might Look Like
Food For Thought
Football Jerseys have dominated European street fashion for the entire 21st century. They show the wearer's loyalty to a city, a club, or a player. The greater Heidelberg area is dominated by local favorites and international classics – TSG Hoffenheim and Waldhof Mannheim for the natives; Bayern München, Real Madrid, and Barcelona for the more cosmopolitan football fans. A blue and yellow kit recently started appearing on the streets – the kit of Saudi Arabia’s al-Nassr FC. The number 7 is printed on the back, courtesy of Christiano Ronaldo. His transfer to the kingdom of oil ushered in a new era in professional sports – the era of Saudi money. Golf, Tennis, Formula 1, E-Sports, and football have all succumbed to the pull of the seemingly endless wealth of the desert state. But why invest ridiculous sums of money into sports?
The most obvious answer is return on investment. Pro sports are a billion-dollar industry: the sale of TV rights, merchandise, and tickets are phenomenal incentives for bringing events, players, and leagues to Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Pro League, the country’s premier football league, saw a revenue increase of 650% after just the first month of the 2023/24 season: music to the ears of shareholders. With international superstars like Christiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., Karim Benzema, and N’golo Kante, more and more football fans worldwide have shifted their gaze to Saudi clubs, most of them owned by the state of Saudi Arabia. The wealth of the state, where an estimated 1 trillion USD was invested into the public wealth fund alone, easily explains what likely tempted players to leave the European top leagues for sandier pastures, with players earning up to a mind-boggling annual salary of 200 million USD. Even Ronaldo’s lifelong rival Lionel Messi is estimated to earn only 150 million dollars annually from his contract at Inter Miami, though he notably received an offer from the Saudis that would have earned him triple that amount. The Saudi Pro League yields annual revenues of 120 million Dollars and ranks as the third most profitable league in the world in terms of sponsorship revenue: the investments have been proven worthwhile.
Most of the Saudi money is made by exporting the world's most precious natural resource – oil. In the industrial world of the 20th century, oil still fuels the majority of the world: whoever sold it could count on becoming obscenely wealthy. All good things must however come to an end; the Arabian reserves may be vast, but they are not endless, and neither is the need for oil. As of today, the business around this black gold remains extremely profitable. However, the world is changing once again; while the global push towards reducing carbon emissions may be lackluster at best, Saudi Arabians certainly see the threat that electric cars, hydroelectric power plants, and wind turbines pose to their main source of revenue. Their “Vision 2030” addresses this reliance and takes a page out of their neighbor’s book. Like the United Arab Emirates, the Saudis plan to increase non-pilgrim tourism by building multiple futuristic megacities similar to Dubai. This is where sport comes in. Events like the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia, the Diriyah Tennis Cup, or their most bizarre endeavor yet, the Asian Winter Games 2029, are supposed to bring an international audience into the country to kickstart an influx of foreign visitors.
Another explanation of current Saudi involvement in several sports is the sinister practice of “Sportswashing.” The 1936 Olympics in Berlin, the FIFA World Cups 2018 and 2022 in Russia and Qatar respectively, and the Winter Olympics 2014 in Sochi – all listed events were used by their hosts to distract the world from grave internal issues. Nonetheless, human rights violations that unite these past and present regimes cannot simply be waved away. Saudi Arabia is no different here. Whether it be their treatment of guest workers that has been compared to slavery, their harsh punishments for crimes ranging from public lashings to the death penalty, their restrictions on free speech, or the role of women in their society, the Saudis are well known to view human rights as more of a polite suggestion. This behavior is not unique to the area, though the aspiration to become a global tourist destination in the region is, which has resulted in some unfavorable PR. Instead of addressing these issues, the kingdom of Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud opted to host propaganda fests to “sportswash” the name of his nation.
All these factors do nothing to weaken the steady pull of money. If the Qatar World Cup proved anything, it is that a fancy hashtag and an outcry in Western media will stop no corporation from sponsoring and no national team from partaking in the biggest sporting event in the world. It is only natural that their rivals in the Middle East, the Saudi Arabians, seek to crown their efforts with a World Cup of their own. While the host of the 2034 tournament is not yet decided, the KSA is the only current contender. With the decision being made later this year, one can only hope for another country to step up. Otherwise, a repetition of the corrupt disaster that was Qatar 2022 seems set in stone.
