Everything all at once

Gulf investment in other sports

British boxer Tyson Fury predicts Saudi Arabia will become the home of all sports within a decade. From WWE, horse racing and football to golf, tennis and Formula 1, there’s no denying the Middle East’s sporting power grab. Here’s a rundown of the extent of this expansion

• 12 years after Qatar hosted the 2022 World Cup, Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 tournament as well as the Asian Cup in 2027, the Asian Winter Games in 2029 and the Asian Games in 2034.

• The purchase of Newcastle United set the Saudi Public Investment Fund back £305 million – around 50% more than it cost Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group to buy Manchester City in 2008. Other Gulf-owned English clubs include Aston

Villa and Sheffield United.

• Qatar Sports Investments, a subsidiary of the Qatar sovereign wealth fund, bought Paris SaintGermain for an estimated £100 million in 2012.

• Middle Eastern air carriers Etihad (Manchester City), Emirates (AC Milan, Arsenal and Real Madrid among others) and Qatar (PSG and formerly Bayern Munich) are heavily involved in sponsoring football teams.

• Cristiano Ronaldo is the poster boy of the new Saudi Pro League, reportedly earning £172 million

per year at Al-nassr. The SPL spent a staggering £751 million in the 2023 summer transfer window, attracting the likes of reigning Ballon d’or winner Karim Benzema and Neymar; a Women’s Premier League also launched in 2022.

• Qatar-based broadcaster bein Sports has gone from strength to strength since launching in 2012, giving a lifeline to veteran operators Richard Keys and Andy Gray.

• The Pif-funded LIV Golf has divided opinion since launching in 2022 to the tune of £2 billion, with Tiger Woods having turned down an alleged £627 million to join.

• Bahrain hosted the first Formula 1 Grand Prix in the Middle East in 2004 with Abu Dhabi following in 2009; Saudi Arabia and Qatar joined in 2021.

• Boxing ’s power base began to move east in 2022. Tyson Fury’s undisputed heavyweight championship bout against Oleksandr Usyk will take place in May in Saudi Arabia.

• Qatar will host the basketball World Cup in 2027 and the Asian Games in 2030, a stepping stone to a likely bid for the 2036 Summer Olympics.

• In 2020, Tour de France organiser ASO announced a five-year deal to run the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.

• The Dubai Tennis Championships has taken place since 1993 and the women’s Abu Dhabi Open since 2021. A first professional event will take place in Saudi Arabia this year after a deal was agreed for Jeddah to host the Next Gen ATP Finals; talks to host the end-of-season WTA Finals are ongoing.

• The WWE has been promoting wrestling events in Saudi Arabia since 2014. The first women’s match did not take place until 2019 owing to the country’s limitations on women’s rights.

• The Middle East was a hotbed for horse racing long before the Dubai World Cup was created in 1996. Launched in 2020, the Saudi Cup carries a record total prize pot of £25 million.