Saudi Pro League secures major international broadcast deals

The Saudi Pro League (SPL) has secured a network of international broadcast deals across 130+ territories for the 2023/24 season, expanding its reach across key markets around the world as interest in the league continues to soar among football fans globally. The deals were negotiated by IMG, following the extension of its exclusive agreement with SPL to manage the distribution of international broadcast rights for the Roshn Saudi League for the next two seasons.

Includes deals with DAZN, Canal+, Sport TV, Marca.com, La 7 and Cosmote across key European markets
Three marquee matches per week to be beamed live to global broadcasters across multiple platforms
Agreements come at a time of rising global interest in the Roshn Saudi League

The agreements include a landmark deal with DAZN in multiple territories (Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and the UK) as well as major European broadcasters Canal+ (France), Sport TV (Portugal), La 7 (Italy), Marca.com (Spain) and Cosmote (Greece), among others.

Through the agreements, select SPL matches from across the 34 rounds of fixtures will be available exclusively to international partner broadcasters, with viewers initially able to access three marquee fixtures per week for the 2023/24 season. Starting with the opening round of matches on the weekend of August 11-14, the action will be accessible through partner TV networks as well as online streaming services, OTT platforms, android and iOS applications.

Starting from this season, IMG will also produce the live world feed, including graphics and English commentary. Additionally, IMG’s digital team Seven League will manage the league’s social channels and digital content output. News packages featuring the action will also be carried by SNTV, the joint venture between The Associated Press and IMG, and delivered to over 400 media organisations across broadcast, digital and social platforms worldwide.

The broadcast deals will build on a record-breaking 2022/23 season which saw more spectators on match days, more followers and greater global viewing figures than ever before, with action aired on 48 platforms and TV broadcasters in over 170 countries worldwide, and commentary in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Thai and Japanese.

Saad Allazeez, the Saudi Pro League interim CEO, said: “These agreements comes at a time of genuine growth for Saudi Arabian football, with growing interest in the Roshn Saudi league from football fans all around the world. The watching world can now enjoy front row seats as Saudi football transforms, and thanks to the Saudi Pro League strategy, football fans around the world will be able to watch promising young talent from the Kingdom competing and playing with some of the biggest names in world football.”

Football fans from the MENA region as well as those in Chad, Djibouti, Mauritania, Somalia, and Sudan, all within the reach of Arabsat satellite, can continue to follow the Roshn Saudi League action on their regular channels. SSC retains the linear TV rights and the digital rights through Shahid, ensuring uninterrupted coverage across these territories.

The full list of broadcast deals secured for the 2023/24 Saudi Pro League include:

A1 Bulgaria / Max Sport (Bulgaria)
Azam (East Africa)
Azteca (Central America & Mexico)
Band Group (Brazil)
Bilibili (China)
Canal+ (France & French overseas territories)
Cosmote (Greece)
DAZN (UK, Germany, Austria, Canada, Belgium)
GOAT (Brazil)
Kball (China)
La 7 (Italy)
com (Spain)
Migu (China)
Network Ten (Australia)
Prima Sports (Romania)
Setanta (Commonwealth of Independent States, Baltics & Ukraine)
Sony/culver (Indian Sub-continent)
SPO TV (South East Asia, Korea & Japan)
Sport TV (Portugal)
Sporty TV (Nigeria & Ghana)
StartTimes (Sub-Saharan Africa incl. South Africa)
Supersport (Albania & Kosovo)
Tencent (China)
ZAP (Angola & Mozambique)
Zhibo8 (China)