Value of Saudi League contracts jumps 1467% in 10 years

A survey by (Maaal) revealed that the Saudi Professional League recorded a jump in the value of player contracts of 1467% in 10 years, as the league clubs contracted during the summer transfers of the current season with local and foreign players, at a value of about 478 million pounds sterling, compared to contracts worth 30.5 million pounds sterling for the 2015/2016 sports season, and this is primarily attributed to the “Elite Player Attraction” program, one of the pillars of the transformation strategy launched by the Saudi Professional League at the beginning of 2023.

Last season 2023/2024, which bears the name (Roshen League), witnessed the highest jump in the volume of contracts during a year, as club transfers took place at a value of 977 million pounds sterling, an increase of 2038% over the previous season, and transfers at that time amounted to 45.7 million pounds sterling, according to the German Transfer Market network.

The value of club contracts is expected to increase during the current 2024/2025 season of the (Roshen League), in the upcoming winter transfers in January.

The 2018/2019 season was the highest sports season that witnessed high spending in terms of contracts (before the launch of the recruitment program) with a value of 189.3 million pounds, while the 2016/2017 season witnessed the lowest level of spending on player contracts by league clubs with a total of 23.4 million pounds.

The increase in club spending on player contracts enhances the market value of the Saudi Professional League and raises the revenues of the League Association in line with the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 in the sports sector, as the goals include raising the market value of the league to exceed 8 billion riyals, and raising the revenues of the League Association from 450 million riyals to exceed 1.8 billion riyals annually, in addition to bringing the Saudi League to the list of the top 10 leagues in the world.

Referring to the launch of the Sports Clubs Investment and Privatization Project last year, to build an effective sports sector, by stimulating the private sector and enabling it to contribute to the development of the sports sector, which is based on three strategic and fundamental objectives, namely providing an attractive environment for investment in the sector, towards achieving a sustainable sports economy, in addition to achieving organization, raising the level of professionalism and administrative and financial governance in sports clubs, in addition to working on developing the infrastructure, which is positively reflected in improving the experience of sports fans.