Saudi Sports Clubs Investment and Privatization

The Saudi Sports Clubs Investment and Privatization is the project launched by the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on June 5, 2023. It includes the investment and privatization of sports clubs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to improve the status of sports in the Kingdom.

Previously, sports clubs in the Kingdom were subject to the state's ownership, and the Ministry of Sport was responsible for overseeing them and providing conditional governmental support according to the Sports Club Support Strategy. In the second quarter of 2023, the privatization of some sports clubs started, aiming to increase the revenues of the Saudi Professional League Association and the economic value of the Saudi Pro League to more than SAR8 billion.

The Sports Clubs Investment and Privatization Project commences after the completion of the executive procedures of the first phase, in alignment with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 for the sports sector. These objectives aim to establish a thriving sports sector by stimulating the private sector and empowering it to contribute to the development of the sports sector, ultimately achieving the desired excellence of national teams, sports clubs, and athletes across all levels.

The first phase of the project comprised two main tracks:

First track: approving investments from major companies and developmental entities in sports clubs in exchange for transferring club ownership to them.

Second track: offering several sports clubs for privatization, starting from the last quarter of 2023.

The privatization project is built upon three strategic objectives, which are as follows: creating quality opportunities and an attractive environment for investment in the sports sector to achieve a sustainable sports economy, enhancing professionalism and administrative and financial governance within sports clubs, and elevating the level of the clubs while developing their infrastructure to offer the best services to sports enthusiasts. This will have a positive impact on improving the overall experience for the audience.

The overarching goal of transferring and privatizing clubs is to achieve qualitative leaps in various sports in the Kingdom by 2030 to produce an exceptional generation of athletes on both regional and global levels. This is in addition to developing the football game and its competitions specifically to place the Saudi league among the world's top ten leagues, increase the annual revenues of the Saudi Professional League Association from SAR450 million to over SAR1.8 billion, and raise the market value of the Saudi Pro League from SAR3 billion to over SAR8 billion.

The first phase of sports clubs' privatization has commenced with transferring ownership of four clubs to national companies. The ownership of al-Qadsiah Club has been transferred to Saudi Aramco; ad-Dir'iyyah Club to Diriyah Gate Development Authority; al-Ula Club to the Royal Commission for al-Ula; and the Falcons Club to NEOM Company.

In addition, the Public Investment Fund also invested in four Saudi clubs by converting them into companies owned by the fund and a non-profit foundation for each club. The clubs are the following: al-Ittihad Club, al-Ahli Saudi Club, al-Nassr Club, and al-Hilal Club.

On July 2, 2024, the Council of Ministers approved the document for the privatization of fourteen sports clubs and granted the Supervisory Committee for Privatization in the Sports Sector the authority to issue approvals for the privatization of sports clubs in the following divisions: Professional, First, Second, Third, and Fourth. The second phase of the second track in the project for investment and privatization of sports clubs included the following clubs: Al-Zulfi, al-Nahda, al-Okhdood, al-Ansar, al-Orobah, al-Kholood, al-Shoulla, Hajer, al-Najma, al-Riyadh, al-Rawda, Jeddah, al-Taraji, and al-Sahel.