In the beginning it seemed common knowledge that the Saudi Pro League was mostly about money and only a little about football. Many in the football world huffed and puffed and complained but in truth most of them had recently spent hundreds of millions of pounds themselves poaching players from other teams. Was the pot calling the kettle, black? Was this a spectacular case of sour grapes?
True, the Saudi Pro League had offered some players, like Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, unbelievably huge deals – as much as ten times what even they as superstars could have expected to earn from any European Club. But for older players or lights less bright, the deals have been significantly less outrageous. Sure they are bigger deals but new leagues have been employing the same ‘pay them more’ strategy for years. And for goodness sakes, last year Chelsea alone paid more than half a billion pounds for players in one transfer window! In the last 14 months the total has reached 980 million pounds, more than the entire La Liga league.
So while it is fair to say the SPL has spent money, so have European clubs and so have clubs around the world. The league does benefit from government investment, and this is part of the reason why teams in the league have ample money for big name players. But Football is a global sport run in a global manner. Money is and has been the cost of entry – really, really big money – and that is unlikely to change any time soon. Sure the SPL has upped the ante, but the rules were established long ago.
So what is the Saudi Pro League, also called the Roshn Saudi league? The league is made up of 18 teams, but like most top football leagues only a small number, 4, are seriously competitive and only 7 teams winning championships in its 48 year history. Like many other leagues it has evolved from a series of regional events to the national game it is today. Much like other major leagues, the season consists of double round robin play, each team playing all other teams twice, home and away and the league winner the team with the most points at the end of the season.
So it’s just like all the other leagues, In fact they play in the Champions League – the Asian Champions League and have had solid success, keeping them in the top echelon of Asian Leagues. And with the stated objective of becoming one of the top 10 leagues in the world, it seems they are on their way. Initial talks are underway to have them included in the UEFA Champions league.
No different than the MLS in North America or the Chinese League, the Saudi League is working hard to establish themselves and is doing what they can to make it happen. Along the way, they are creating more jobs for footballers and footballers support staff. How competitive are they now? Check back here weekly as we watch Saudi Pro League games and report back to you.