The Saudi Pro League – a dwindling pipe dream? Or the future of modern football?

The Saudi Pro League is the latest region to receive a massive influx of cash and high-profile transfers in a bid to create a new footballing powerhouse. However, a year on from a star-studded summer, dwindling viewing figures and departing footballers are beginning to reveal cracks in the Middle Eastern division.

In the summer of 2023, following Cristiano Ronaldo’s headline-making January transfer, the Saudi Pro League emerged as a new hotspot for aging football stars. Big-money moves for Karim Benzema, Sadio Mané, Riyad Mahrez, and Fabinho—accompanied by staggering wages—shocked football fans. While financial power in football has long been a contentious issue, this wave of transfers sparked widespread concern. Around £800 million was spent that summer, with the vast majority coming from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns majority stakes in the highest-spending Saudi clubs: Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Ahli. More recently, the PIF also secured a majority stake in Newcastle United, further intertwining Saudi investment with global football.

Two years later, in 2025, has this aggressive investment strategy positioned the Saudi Pro League as a true rival to Europe’s elite competitions? Cristiano Ronaldo believes so, claiming the league is tougher than France’s Ligue 1—a division he has never played in. However, despite Ligue 1’s own broadcasting struggles, French stadiums continue to attract significantly larger crowds. The numbers tell a harsh truth: English League One, the third tier of English football, boasts an average attendance of 9,969—comfortably surpassing the Saudi Pro League’s 8,109, which has fallen from 9,702 in the 2022/23 season. Television viewership is just as concerning. According to L'Équipe, a French third-division match between Sochaux-Montbéliard and FC Rouen drew more viewers than a supposed heavyweight clash between Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal.

Beyond poor attendance and lacklustre TV ratings, the league’s transfer strategy has dramatically lost momentum. Fewer big-name signings are arriving, while many of those who initially moved to Saudi Arabia are leaving in search of a return to Europe. Jordan Henderson’s Saudi stint ended after just six months as he joined Ajax. Seko Fofana is back in France with Rennes, Jota has returned to Celtic, Neymar is heading back to his boyhood Santos, and Anderson Talisca is set for a move to Turkey. While financial incentives remain, the long-term appeal of the SPL appears to be waning for top professionals.

So, if stadiums are empty, TV audiences are disinterested, and players are leaving, it begs the question: what do we truly want from football? Why is there such little interest in watching these big-name players?

A Lack of Competitive Balance

One of the biggest issues is the SPL’s extreme financial imbalance. The four PIF-backed clubs spent over £700 million in the summer of 2023, meaning the remaining 14 clubs shared just £100 million between them. Competition is what makes football compelling; recent years in the Premier League have seen the rise of clubs like Brighton, Brentford, and Bournemouth, creating thrilling unpredictability. The fact that traditionally wealthy clubs like Manchester United and Tottenham currently struggle in the bottom half of the Premier League table highlights how open competition enhances the spectacle. In contrast, watching Karim Benzema or Riyad Mahrez dominate vastly inferior opponents week after week lacks the drama that football thrives on.

The Absence of Footballing Heritage

Footballing culture is built on history and rivalries—something that cannot be manufactured overnight with financial backing alone. The world tunes in for El Clásico, the Manchester Derby, or the Milan rivalry because of their deep-rooted significance. The Saudi Pro League, in contrast, lacks these historic narratives, making it difficult for neutral fans to emotionally invest in the competition.

To be clear, this isn’t a dismissal of Saudi Arabia’s footballing potential. Of course, the more high-quality football leagues around the world, the better. And crucially, the SPL doesn’t need to appeal to a Western audience to be successful, the PIF is trying to attract the wrong eyeballs. History has shown that simply throwing money at superstars is not a sustainable strategy. The Chinese Super League pursued a similar approach in the 2010s, attracting the likes of Oscar, Hulk, and Carlos Tevez. Yet, without a strong domestic foundation, interest soon collapsed, leading to the financial ruin and dissolution of several clubs.

A Sustainable Path Forward

For Saudi football to flourish long-term, investment needs to start from the grassroots. Investment in grassroots football by developing youth academies and improving domestic talent will help to foster the organic rivalries that make football attractive and will build a sustainable football culture rather than an artificial spectacle. If Saudi Arabia wants a thriving league, it must prioritise long-term development over short-term star power. As a sense of pride for Saudi Arabian fans, it would be great to see their own talent compete in this league, rather than just make up the numbers in teams with a few stars dotted around.

The question remains: will the Saudi Pro League learn from China’s mistakes and pivot towards sustainable growth, or will it become another short-lived financial experiment? What seems certain is there is more money backing this league, at least until the finite resource powering it dries up. To add an edit, as I’m writing this article, rumours of a big money move for Villa’s Jhon Duran show the PIF is still pushing.