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Editor’s Note: This article was written by Adam Stern and first published in Sports Business Journal, the leading source for sports industry news, occasions and data.
Step aside, Las Vegas. Later, London. Flooded with money spent on revamping economies and images, the Middle East – and Saudi Arabia in particular – is becoming the new global hub of fighting sports.
The end comes amid a wave of investment in fighting sports by Middle Eastern entities, as countries and personalities compete for comfortable strength and new tourism opportunities. Saudi Arabia scored its most prestigious goal in late October by winning the 2034 FIFA World Cup. However, the kingdom is also deeply concerned about wrestling, WWE, and motorsports.
Boxing may have been the beginning of what some human rights groups call “sportswashing,” or spending money to gain reputation through sport, when Saudi Arabia staged its first heavyweight fight in 2019 between England’s Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr. of England. United States, billed as “Clash in the Dunes. “
But in 2023, the trend has accelerated dramatically. Through its subsidiary SRJ (pronounced Surge) Sports Investments, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund invested nine personalities in the Professional Fighters League last summer. This budget injection allowed the PFL to acquire Bellator, a deal announced last week that will make the PFL a more valid competitor to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
As for the UFC, it recently announced plans to travel to Saudi Arabia for the first time next March, as part of an initiative implemented by TKO Group CEO Vince McMahon, as first reported via SBJ. WWE has been visiting the kingdom since 2014. .
In a bid to spice up Riyadh’s prestige and tourism, Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority staged a heavyweight boxing bout with Tyson Fury and former UFC champion Francis Ngannou to kick off Riyadh’s months-long season in late October. He would be a candidate for other boxing primaries and is becoming a widespread phenomenon.
“Saudi Arabia is without a doubt the new wrestling capital of the world,” said Peter Murray, CEO of PFL. “They are in fighting games, and MMA in particular, as an expanding game globally and regionally within [the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia]. There is an opportunity to expand the game and the athletes in each and every of levels across all fighting games, starting with the Olympic and grassroots fighting federations, adding the Saudi MMA Federation and professional athletes, with a longer-term opportunity to expand regional and global champions. In reality, It starts with a vision and understanding of MMA and fighting games in general, but there is a genuine opportunity for KSA to be at the forefront of MMA globally, as well as regionally, at the athlete level and from a global business. perspective.
Because the kingdoms and sheikhdoms of the Middle East have such deep pockets, fighters looking to maximize their revenue stream in those harmful sports have a strong incentive to settle for offerings from the region. Ngannou, the former UFC fighter, used to fight for what he said can be as low as six figures in UFC bouts. But in his bout against Fury, World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Ngannou, he won “easily in the 8 figures,” or more than $10 million, his agent, Marquel. Martin, he showed it to SBJ.
Fury is set to fight in Saudi Arabia early next year for the undisputed heavyweight name backing Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk also fought Joshua in 2021 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in a bout dubbed “Fury at the Red Sea. “The timing indicated that both boxers were earning $40 million for their participation. Last month’s Ngannou-Fury match featured elaborate production elements such as a pre-match concert through rapper Lil Bathrough and a ring hydraulically lifted from the basement.
In December, Deontay Wilder and Joshua will face separate warring sides on the next map in Saudi Arabia.
“Personally, I like it because it gives athletes more opportunities and enthusiasts a new experience just from the spectator,” said Martin, a former CAA executive.
Although the UFC is heading to Saudi Arabia for the first time in 2024, it has been setting up shop in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for more than a decade. It has hosted there 18 times since 2010 and entered into a formal agreement with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2019. The sheikh has been instrumental in helping the UFC get through the pandemic and has helped the UFC connect with entities in China. UFC CEO Dana White said.
“I love Abu Dhabi and will do business with them until the day I die,” White said. “They’ve been partners since day one and yes, I fully sense [the Middle East trend toward the game having a bigger role in fighting sports] because those guys get it and they just have unlimited amounts of money. “
In addition to the money, the domain has quality amenities. Fury-Ngannou was held at the Kingdom Arena, which opened earlier this year. UFC 294 took place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, which opened in 2021.
Saudi Arabia has 314 sponsorships worldwide, according to a recent report cited by the London Times, a sign of the extent to which it seeks to gain traction through athletics. SRJ recently appointed Danny Townsend, chief executive of the Australian professional leagues, to the same position. role, as the Sports Investment Unit presents new agreements in sport. SRJ responded to an interview request at the time of publication.
Top Rank Boxing, one of the game’s biggest promoters, worked on the Fury-Ngannou bout because it helps constitute Fury’s business interests in the United States. Todd DuBoef, president of Top Rank, told SBJ that he believes it’s too early to say whether the arrival of Middle Eastern countries as combat seekers will have a major impact on the sport in the long run.
“I don’t think it’s a new phenomenon because it goes back to 2019 [with Joshua-Ruiz]. . . they’ve been around the rim,” DuBoef said. We believe that if done strategically and in a way that doesn’t dilute the product, and selectively localize the right content that is suitable to be hosted in the region, it can be a glorious opportunity for the athlete and all participants to organize great occasions [in the Middle East] for a worldwide fan base.
As Israel’s war against Hamas has shown in recent weeks, the geopolitics of the Middle East can be a delicate balancing act for sports venues looking to do business in the region. White announced in early October that he had to revoke a ban on the UFC flag that was first implemented shortly after the start of Ukraine’s war against Russia. But that resolution was reversed again, and the ban was reinstated a few weeks later, when the UFC hosted UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi as the war in Israel and Gaza raged.
Several fighters made comments in their post-fight statements about the situation in Gaza. UFC fighter Michel Pereira stepped out with an Israeli flag the week before the flag ban was reintroduced.
Regardless of geopolitical tensions, the Middle East is expected to remain a major player in fighting sports well into the 2030s. For example, the UFC recently extended its deal in Abu Dhabi to continue fights there until at least 2028.
“Everyone is starting to realize it now: We’ve been there for almost 13 years,” White said. “There are many other people who walk by and see relations in the Middle East as a monetary drain. It has never been a monetary drain for us. Look at how we built the region there with guys like Khamzat Chimaev, Khabib [Nurmapassmedov], Islam [Makhachev] and the list goes on. They helped us get through COVID. Today a functionality institute is being built there and Abu Dhabi has done a glorious job of locating us as strategic partners in China because they have wonderful relations there. And now we have a Chinese world champion.
Journal of Sports Affairs
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