The Saudi Pro League has welcomed its first foreign-owned club, marking a shift in the competition’s ownership model.
Late last week, US-based Harburg Group completed a full acquisition of Al Kholood, becoming the first overseas investor to take 100% control of a team in the league. The club was initially owned by the Saudi Ministry of Sport under public ownership.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the move signals growing international interest in Saudi football beyond the high-profile player signings that have dominated headlines in recent years
Ben Harburg, an American sports executive investor, is the Chairman of Harburg Group and also the Founder of MSA Capital, a global investment firm with more than $2bn in assets, including Airbnb, Uber and Nubank.
Harburg’s initial interest in Saudi Arabia came when the investment firm was part of a funding round for the Middle Eastern financial services and shopping app Tabby. This now extends to the full ownership of Al Kholood.
Harburg Group’s first sports investment involved Spanish second division club Cádiz FC, where Ben Harburg became co-owner.
Growing success in the region
Al Kholood finished 9th for the 2024/25 SPL season. Many saw this as an impressive finish given the club had only been recently promoted and had not yet invested heavily in player transfers due to their public ownership model.
Several of the league’s clubs are owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and have heavily invested in their squad’s talent.
The likes of Al Nassr have attracted stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo; Al Ittihad signed Karim Benzema; and Neymar joined Al Hilal among other lucrative player transfers to the league.
Saudi’s Ministry of Sport confirmed in a statement that Harburg Group’s acquisition reinforces the SPL’s ambition to grow football across the country and continue to scale to become a globally recognised league.
“(This) announcement follows a transparent and professional process, and the ministry is proud to welcome new partners who share our ambition to grow sport, to seize new opportunities and to become world-class on and off the pitch,” said a Saudi Ministry of Sport Spokesperson.”
The privatisation of the SPL
Before the explosion of funding provided to SPL clubs in 2023, all 18 clubs were owned by the Ministry. This changed when the PIF acquired majority shares in Al Ahli, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Nassr.
With close to $1trn in assets, the sovereign wealth fund kickstarted the SPL’s first growth phase by attracting the likes of Ronaldo, Benzema and Neymar to the league.
Despite the influx of investment from the PIF, the Ministry began searching for foreign investment in a bid to diversify capital opportunities, and to further strengthen the league’s financial prospects.
This enabled Harburg Group to become the first foreign owners of an SPL club and it may not be the last; the league is aiming to reach an annual revenue of $480m by the 2029/30 season, according to Bloomberg.
In comparison to the top five European leagues for the 2023/24 season, the Premier League generated $8.4bn in revenue, Bundesliga $6.7bn, La Liga $4.39bn, Serie A $3.35bn, and Ligue 1 $3bn.
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