The SRJ Sports Investments company has been established to help bolster Saudi Arabia’s sports sector in making it a commercially viable location for a range of global sports.
The investment firm will be backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) in order to help create sports intellectual properties and gain commercial and broadcasting rights for sports held in the country.
This comes off the back of the Saudi Pro League’s significant investment into the football league over the past several months, with PIF-owned clubs Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr acquiring some of the sports largest names such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and N’Golo Kanté, among a plethora of other players.
SRJ Sports Investments will also not only look to enhance the sports scene in Saudi Arabia, but also the entire of MENA as the region as a whole has made huge investments into sports over the last several years, most notably when Qatar hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Raid Ismail, Head of MENA Direct Investments at PIF, said: “We are thrilled to announce the establishment of SRJ Sports Investments company to accelerate the growth of the sports sector in Saudi Arabia and the MENA region, by creating and investing in international sports IP, enhancing the fan experience through hosting major global events and investing in transformative technologies.”
The Saudi Arabian government will hope the new investment firm will help deliver and accelerate its plans for its ‘Saudi Vision 2030’ as the country has made it known it would like to host the FIFA World Cup in 2030.
Aside from football, the PIF has also made significant strides in the world of golf with the creation of LIV Golf. Legends such as Phil Mickleson have already signed up to the tour but questions were raised after it recently agreed a merger deal with the PGA Tour.
The Financial Times has clarified that SRJ Sports Investments will not be listed as an owner of LIV Golf nor Newcastle United, who are also owned by the PIF.
Saudi Arabia has also played host to a number of high-profile boxing bouts, such as Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua 2, become a yearly home to WWE events as part of a 10-year deal, and also hosts a yearly Formula One grand prix.
