Al Nassr called the acquisition of CR7 a “historic deal”. This 9-time Saudi Pro League championship team has a reason to spend more than 200 million USD per year to welcome the Portuguese superstar to play.
Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport Economics and Geopolitics at SKEMA University in Paris (France), said: “Signing a player of Ronaldo’s caliber brings benefits in terms of image, reputation, brand brand and the so-called soft power”.
Ambition of the Saudis
Professor Chadwick believes that Al Nassr has calculated carefully when deciding to spend money to welcome the Portuguese superstar to play football for 2.5 years. He analyzed: “Al Nassr’s move serves many purposes. It attracts public attention to Saudi football, which the government of this country has been trying to develop in the past 5 years. The authorities not only want the clubs to compete with the strongest teams in Asia, but also want to grow stronger commercially.”
Al Hilal is the elite representative of the Saudi Pro League. The team has won the national championship 18 times and won the AFC Champions League 4 times, holding the championship record in the tournament’s history. In terms of achievements, Al Hilal is clearly the pride of Saudi football. But the signing of Ronaldo of Al Nassr could create a new turning point on the commercial side.
“The signing of Ronaldo will open new commercial avenues for both Al Nassr and possibly other teams in the league,” added Prof Chadwick.
The attraction of CR7 is undisputed. This 37-year-old superstar has more than half a billion followers on his personal page. If you include all accounts on all social media platforms, this number rises to more than 700 million people. Fame and influence help Ronaldo become a “magnet” attracting fans around the world to watch the Saudi Pro League.
Ronaldo’s presence can help the Saudi Arabia tournament raise the bar. CR7 will create an impact not inferior to the time when David Beckham wore LA Galaxy shirt in 2007.
Saudi fans lined up to buy Ronaldo shirt a few days ago. Photo: Reuters.
Before recruiting Ronaldo, the Public Investment Fund (Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia) once attracted attention when it spent $ 363 million to acquire Newcastle United in 2021. The fact that Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia poured money into Europe to Expansion of power is not a new thing.
The UAE and Qatar were ahead of Saudi Arabia when Abu Dhabi United Group acquired Man City in the Premier League or PSG fell into the hands of Qatar Sports Investments of billionaire Nasser Al-Khelaifi. In addition, aviation giants in the Middle East such as Emirates or Etihad have large contracts with famous European teams.
Professor Chadwick said that with the potential and size of the economy surpassing Qatar and the UAE, Saudi Arabia’s investments will help them surpass the two neighboring countries in the future. According to data from AGBI (Arabian Gulf Business Insight), the contribution of sports to Saudi Arabia’s GDP has increased from $2.4 billion in 2016 to $7 billion today.
Dream of hosting the World Cup
Saudi Arabia will host ASIAD 2029, many F1 races and boxing matches featuring many famous names. At the same time, the country is also competing for the right to host many women’s football tournaments in the future, including the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup.
But the biggest ambition of the country’s authorities is to host a World Cup, which Qatar has just done in 2022. According to Mundo Deportivo, Saudi Arabia has submitted to FIFA a plan to host the 2030 World Cup regularly. continent with 3 co-host countries including Saudi Arabia (Asia), Egypt (Africa) and Greece (Europe).
Ahmed Al Khateeb, Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Minister, said in November: “Certainly the three countries will invest heavily in infrastructure and are always ready to host the World Cup. For Saudi Arabia alone, we I will build more modern stadiums and stands for fans.”
In addition to recruiting Ronaldo, Saudi companies also signed a contract with Lionel Messi to promote tourism, and at the same time raise the hope of bringing “El Pulga” to compete in the Saudi Arabian league in the future.
Professor Chadwick believes that the interesting combination of another aspect of Ronaldo and Messi, the two top football superstars in the world for more than a decade, will give Saudi Arabia an added advantage to compete for the right to host the World Cup. 2030. At that time, the dream of watching the world’s biggest football festival at home with them is no longer a distant thing.
Duy Luan | 11:05 04/01/2023
