Saudi Pro League

[Betterdeedthan red]

They've signed a 10 year streaming deal with Apple for 2.5 Billion USD. It's already changing..

Yes but who's going to watch it

 

[SebastianBlue]

The Saudi Pro League has been going for nearly 50 years, so I'd be surprised if they haven't come up with a way to play football in the heat.

I imagine kick offs are about 9pm.

Which itself is a limiting factor for it’s growth.

 

[decmancity]

Yes but who's going to watch it

Millions of people.

Probably all in the 16-21 range who will be watching just to post memes and funny clips of Mbappe running rings around most teams and scoring a hat trick every game all over twitter and facebook.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Yes but who's going to watch it

Far more people watched the MLS than the Saudi Pro League before Messi joined Inter Miami.

And the US has nearly half the population of the entirety of Europe (ten times that of Saudi Arabia, five times that of the UK) and demographic shifts mean more and more people are (directly or indirectly) from countries where football is the top sport.

MLS is the only “big” sport in the US with a positive growth rate.

There is a reason Apple paid so much for exclusive streaming rights and why they reportedly are aggressively pursuing PL broadcast rights in the next bidding round:

The future is football (and sport in general, especially as AI takes over and we feel less and less connected to other humans in our daily lives).

The Saudis know this, but they underestimate the inherent challenges to their league really competing with the established leagues, most of which are non-sporting problems.

 

[domalino]

Which itself is a limiting factor for it’s growth.

Not at all, puts the fixtures in prime time for most of the world.

6pm Western Europe
5pm UK
12pm East coast USA

 

[bluemystery]

Sky's youtube channel showed all the major games last season, more specifically the ones with Al-Nassr. I expect something a lot more full-blown to follow suit.

The signing of Milinkovic-Savic was the dealbreaker to me. That and Neves going, to me, meant that the Pro League is here to stay.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Not at all, puts the fixtures in prime time for most of the world.

6pm Western Europe
5pm UK
12pm East coast USA

I have already spoken about this at length, but that is an issue in of itself.

Rather than have a separate timeframe for viewers that already religiously watch another football league to catch their games and potentially build additional affinity (rather than replacement), they are directly competing with those leagues, with an inferior product. And they have to, because playing the games at any other time is dangerous for most of the year (again, a problem only likely to worsen in coming years).

It is not an opportunity for them, it is very much another of many, many challenges.

 

[Robinho's Subbuteo]

Yes but who's going to watch it

Don’t you mean iWatch it?

 

[Metal Biker]

I'm guessing the Saudi league doesn't have FFP rules?

Regardless, if i'm watching Manchester City compete in a Premier League watched by a few million, in a team filled with local talent as superstars compete in the Billionaires League in Saudi Arabia, I really won't care.

I'm here to watch Manchester City FC, not see Supastarz play for MCFC.

 

[twosips]

Sky's youtube channel showed all the major games last season, more specifically the ones with Al-Nassr. I expect something a lot more full-blown to follow suit.

The signing of Milinkovic-Savic was the dealbreaker to me. That and Neves going, to me, meant that the Pro League is here to stay.

Why? I don't get that conclusion. They're there because of the money, nothing else. I don't blame them, but it isn't a sporting decision. Isn't it pretty well known that this all precedes the Saudis bid for the World cup?

If they get that I'm pretty sure it'll be job done and they'll stop the insane amounts of money being spent. It's not sustainable, even for them.