The Saudi Sports Bubble is Bursting
The US-Israel war on Iran, and the subsequent fallout in the Middle East, has jeopardized Saudi's sports ambitions and raised concerns that the Kingdom's investment-driven gold rush may be drying up.
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In 2018, as Saudi Arabia prepared to invest billions in the world of sports, it embarked on a charm offensive in the United States.
Enlisting the services of Churchill Ripley Group—an international consultancy that touts “unique access to Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and the Middle East”—Saudi officials, including Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud and Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, lobbied companies and senior executives to help advance the development of the kingdom’s rapidly expanding sports and entertainment sector.
According to the foreign registration documents, the Saudi officials went on to have conversations with the likes of the late Kobe Bryant regarding the “development of basketball in Saudi Arabia”; Sophie Goldschmidt, the former CEO of World Surf League, regarding the “development of the sport of surfing in Saudi Arabia”; the CEO of Thinkwell regarding the “development of a sports mall in Saudi Arabia”; Bing and Twitch about advancing esports in the kingdom; the NHL commissioner on developing floor hockey in Saudi; Madison Square Garden regarding the development of “stadium infrastructure”; and many more.
Given Saudi Arabia’s historical opposition to Western-influenced sports and entertainment, these developments signalled a notable shift in the ultra-conservative Islamic nation’s policies. Within a few short years, the kingdom would position itself as a global sports hub, hosting major events once thought unimaginable in the Gulf state. Saudi now owns a prominent English football club, its own golf league, and has lured some of the world’s biggest football stars, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, to its revamped domestic league. The kingdom also hosts the world’s richest horse race, a Formula 1 race, regular UFC events, marquee boxing showdowns, and will play host to the 2034 edition of the FIFA World Cup.
And though there was a time when Saudi’s ascension seemed inevitable, the US-Israel war on Iran, and the subsequent fallout in the Middle East, has jeopardized its ambitions and raised doubt about the kingdom’s future investments across sports.
It started in early March, when the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah was cancelled due to safety concerns amid incoming drone strikes from Iran. Similar cancelations took place in the neighbouring Gulf states of Qatar and Bahrain. AFC Champions League matches were also postponed due to wartime disruptions. Several other sports soon followed, suggesting that the cancellations may also have been driven by a strategic—and potentially desperate—scaling back of investments.
In late March, Bounces reported that the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) is looking for a new host for its marquee year-end championship, the WTA Finals, following a three-year stint in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Two weeks later, The Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—the sovereign wealth fund chaired by Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and valued at nearly $1 trillion—was on the verge of cutting its support for LIV Golf. Despite the rumours of its imminent collapse, the golf league hosted an event in Mexico City, with officials later stating that the league is “full steam ahead” moving forward.
There have been other signs of change. Last year, the kingdom abandoned a 12-year deal with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host video gaming Esports Olympics in Riyadh. The kingdom also announced that the 2029 Asian Winter Games had also been postponed indefinitely in January 2026.
The US-Israeli war on Iran has forced a sharp reassessment of priorities across the region. Governments are increasingly reconsidering how and where resources are allocated, with security concerns rising to the forefront. Investments in air defence and military readiness now appear far more urgent than funding high-profile sporting ventures. This became even more apparent when the PIF announced its new five-year investment strategy on April 15, 2026.
“The 2026-2030 strategy marks a natural evolution as PIF moves from a period of rapid growth and acceleration to a new phase of sustained value creation,” read the press release, which added that the PIF will reprioritize its spending and narrow its focus to six “ecosystems,” one of which is “Tourism, Travel & Entertainment.“ `Sports was not one of the six areas listed in the PIF press release, even though it was combined with entertainment and leisure as one the 13 strategic sectors in the PIF 2021-2025 program.
Yasir al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF, noted that privatization will be a core component of the wealth fund’s strategy moving forward. “The 2026-2030 strategy is a natural next step in PIF’s growth journey. It offers our partners more opportunities to invest in high-quality assets and ecosystems, alongside PIF,” al-Rumayyan said in the April 15 press release. The next day, the PIF announced it had sold a 70% stake in Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal to Kingdom Holding Company, the firm run by billionaire businessman and member of the Saudi royal family Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. Al Hilal was one of the four Saudi clubs that the kingdom had bought controlling interests less than three years ago.
While the PIF initially anticipated that there would be more foreign direct investment taking place in the kingdom by now, the vast majority of its privatization strategy is now targeting local investors and wealthy royal family members. During the Sports Investment Forum in riyadh this week, the Saudi Ministry of Investment revealed that it is developing and offering diverse investment opportunities, including projects related to sports infrastructure and preparations for hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup, and has invited the local private sector to submit proposals.
Basim Ibrahim, the Sport Sector Investment Development Director at the Saudi Ministry of Investment, claimed in an interview with Saudi state-funded Al Arabiya that the kingdom was still committed to hosting major sports event but that “we need all the partners in the sports sector to join us in this journey.”
And yet, it appears that the Saudi sports gold rush may finally be drying up. Most recently, Saudi ditched plans to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup, while uncertainty hangs over its wider ambitions in combat sports, gaming, and motorsport. What once looked like an unstoppable expansion is now a reminder that Western sports organizations, in their reckless pursuit of profit, staked their futures on a partner that never had to prove it could sustain the weight of what it was being asked to build.
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