Dubai, UAE— Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia has crept up to the 47th spot in the world with its market value standing at US$248 million, according to figures released by the Transfer Market website.
The website revealed that Manchester City, the English Premier League, and European Champions League holder, owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President of the UAE, came at the top with the highest market value in players, at about US$1.34 bn.
Arsenal came in second with about US$1.17 bn, while Paris Saint-Germain, owned by Qatar Sports Investments, came in third with a market value of US$1.14 bn, and Real Madrid came in fourth with about US$1.1 bn.
Furthermore, “Newcastle United,” owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, appeared in the eleventh place on this list, with a market value of $687.57 million , a difference of fewer than $21.13 million from its compatriot “Aston Villa,” owned by Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris.
SPL 2023 deals and expectations
Al Hilal ranked second among football clubs in the world in spending on deals last summer, with about US$378.7 million, behind the UK’s team “Chelsea,” whose expenditures on purchasing player contracts during the summer exceeded $495 million.
The 2023 summer transfer window saw the Saudi Pro League (SPL) spend US$952 million, the second-highest amount of any football league in the world behind England’s Premier League’s US$1.98 bn.
Deloitte’s report revealed that the Saudi Professional League signed 94 foreign players, including 37 from Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues. In the summer of 2023, 32.8 percent of all foreign transfer fees paid by Premier League clubs came from purchases made by clubs in the Saudi Pro League, whose clubs spent the most money at US$312 Million.
Clubs in the Saudi Pro League spent US$148 million on players from La Liga in Spain, US$122 million from France, US$116 million from Serie A in Italy, and US$32 million from the Bundesliga in Germany.
Clubs in the Saudi Pro League have made it a priority to pay top dollar for the services of internationally recognized football players in the hopes that the presence of such household names will increase attendance at Saudi Pro League matches. Several countries, including China and Japan, have attempted this method but have yet to succeed.
However, recent high-profile signings in Saudi Arabia, such as Portuguese five-time World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo of Al-Nassr, have attracted an extraordinary number of global followers to watching the SPL. Six of the top ten highest-paid football players in the world are now playing in the SPL, led by Ronaldo, who is projected to be making US$200 million annually.
In addition, Brazilian football sensation Neymar is among the latest stars to transfer to the SPL, highlighting the significant pull the Saudi Pro League has already achieved in recruiting global sport’s top names.
The SPL has been able to lure a more significant number of elite players than was initially anticipated due to the enormous salaries provided to superstars like Ronaldo and Al Etihad’s Benzema ($200 million per year).
The summer transfer window for the 2023 SPL season closed with a flurry of prominent players moving to the SPL, challenging the perception that the SPL is a retirement league for players past their prime.
In addition, the entry of talented foreign players into the SPL is predicted to boost the development of the Kingdom’s native talent by raising the league’s general standard of play. The success of the Saudi national football team could be bolstered by investing in the youth of the Kingdom’s population.
To finance these game-changing bets, the Saudi government has mostly used its sovereign fund (Public Investment Fund). The PIF has helped the Saudi government acquire controlling interests in four of the 18 clubs in the Saudi Pro League and the 80 percent ownership in Newcastle United for US$391 million.
The transfer of ownership and privatization of SPL teams is meant to hasten development in the SPL and other sports nationwide. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) is the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund and manages assets worth over US$700 bn, as reported by the PIF’s publications.
The Saudi Professional League is staking its reputation on the massive football fans in the Kingdom and the wider MENA region.
Deloitte estimates that the number of football enthusiasts worldwide reached 758 million by the end of 2022, a rise of 17 million from 2018.
Between 2018 and 2022, the number of basketball enthusiasts throughout the world fell by 26 million, to 369 million, while the number of American football fans around the world rose by 25 million, to 157 million.