Saudi Pro League moves to over 130 broadcast deals before season starts

August 10 - The Saudi Pro League (SPL) has confirmed over 130 broadcasters worldwide for the 2023/24 season, including streaming channel DAZN in Europe and FOX Sports in the United States.

The two-year agreement with DAZN covers Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany and the UK. Other European broadcasters include Canal+ (France), Sport TV (Portugal), La7 (Italy), Marca.com (Spain) and Cosmote (Greece).

The deal will cover all 34 matches of the upcoming Saudi Pro League season.

IMG, which handles sales for the SPL, will also produce the global live feed, including graphics and commentary in English. IMG's digital team, Seven League, will manage the league's social channels and digital content production, while news programming will be delivered by SNTV to more than 400 media organizations across broadcast, digital and around the world.

While the value of the deals made don't come close to Europe's major leagues in terms of rights fees, the SPL is taking advantage of the pool of top players joining Saudi clubs from Europe. There is also an international spread among these players, giving the league a local appeal to major football markets around the world.

Saad Allazeez, Acting CEO of the Saudi Pro League, said: “These agreements come at a time of real growth for Saudi football, with growing interest in the Saudi Roshn League from football fans across the country. The world of watchers can now enjoy front row seats as Saudi football transforms, and thanks to the Saudi Pro League strategy, football fans around the world will be able to watch promising young talent from the Kingdom compete and play with some of the biggest names in the world.

The new season kicks off on Friday with Al-Ahli, who signed a host of talents such as Champions League winners Riyad Mahrez, goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and Roberto Firmino, taking on Al-Hazm.

The full list of completed broadcast deals for the 2023/24 Saudi Pro League includes: A1 Bulgaria / Max Sport (Bulgaria), Azam (East Africa), Azteca (Central America and Mexico), Band Group ( Brazil), Bilibili (China), Canal+ (France and DOM-TOM), Cosmote (Greece), DAZN (United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Canada, Belgium), GOAT (Brazil), Kball (China), La 7 ( Italy), Marca.com (Spain), Migu (China), Network Ten (Australia), Prima Sports (Romania), Setanta (Commonwealth of Independent States, Baltic States and Ukraine), Sony/culver (Indian subcontinent), SPO TV (South East Asia, Korea and Japan), Sport TV (Portugal), Sporty TV (Nigeria and Ghana), StartTimes (Sub-Saharan Africa including South Africa), Supersport (Albania and Kosovo), Tencent (China), ZAP (Angola and Mozambique), Zhibo8 (China).

Contact the author of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1691732705labto1691732705ofdlr1691732705owedi1691732705sni@o1691732705fni1691732705