Soccer, golf, F1, cycling and more. Saudi Arabia is buying sport – this is why
July’s packed calendar of sport started with British cyclist Adam Yates beating his twin brother Simon to win the first stage of the Tour de France. Adam rides for UAE Team Emirates and Simon for Team Jayco AlUla, AlUla being an oasis city in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
The following day, July 2, American golfer Talor Gooch won LIV Golf Andalucia, his third victory in nine tournaments in the 2023 edition of the Saudi-backed breakaway series, taking home $4m (£3.1m) for this win.
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Twenty-four hours on, former Liverpool footballer Steven Gerrard announced he would be moving to Dammam in Saudi Arabia to manage Al Ettifaq, where he will be paid $10million a season. The same day, Portuguese winger Jota, who has it all before him at just 24, swapped adoration at Celtic in Scotland for remuneration at Al Ittihad in Jeddah, where he will team up with fellow new signings Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante and look forward to fixtures against his compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo.
Three days, three different sports… three more steps towards Saudi Arabia becoming the centre of the global sports industry?
This, after all, comes in the context of recent talks between the Saudis and tennis’ ATP men’s tour over possible investment — one of the subjects dominating Wimbledon in the last week — and the prospect of heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua returning to the Kingdom to face Deontay Wilder in December.
Saudi Arabia is also currently hosting Gamers8: The Land of Heroes. Staged at Boulevard Riyadh City, a 220-acre entertainment zone opened in 2019, Gamers8 is an eight-week esports festival that includes 15 elite tournaments at a purpose-built venue, with a prize pool of $45million.
According to Turki Alfawzan, the chief executive of the
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