The Saudi Public Investment Fund acquired, on Wednesday, a minority stake in the American Professional Fighters League (PFL) for mixed martial arts, in the latest example of the Kingdom’s great trend to invest in the sports sector.
This agreement is the first concluded by the “Sarj” sports investment company, which the fund announced its establishment earlier this month with the aim of “hosting international sporting events” in the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia seeks to strengthen its sports sector as part of an economic transformation plan, and within the framework of a policy based on strengthening the sources of soft power for the Kingdom, and this is something that comes within the “Vision 2030”, which is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who chairs the Board of Directors of the Public Investment Fund.
“Today marks a new milestone for Sarj Company as we make our inaugural investment,” Sarj Chairman Bandar bin Muqrin said in a statement. “This investment aims to nurture local and regional martial arts talent, promote gender equality in sports, and directly provide new opportunities for Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region,” he added.
Just a decade ago, mixed martial arts, which combine several martial elements, from Brazilian jiu-jitsu and boxing to judo and Muay Thai, had a limited following in Saudi Arabia, but that began to change when the kingdom hosted the famous regional “Desert Force” competition in 2014 before its takeover by Gulf countries that wanted to monopolize combat sports and did not succeed in their endeavor. Since then, the sport has grown in popularity, with the rise of fighters from across the Middle East, and the establishment of a national mixed martial arts foundation to develop Saudi talent.
Last week, Saudi fighters Abdullah Al-Qahtani and Mustafa Rashid Nada won matches at Madison Square Garden in New York, as part of the Professional Fighters League. The Professional Fighters League intends to launch a regional league and organize other “mega events” in Saudi Arabia, where youth under the age of 30 make up 51.1 percent of the total Saudi population of 32.2 million.
The value of the deal was not disclosed, but the American newspaper “Financial Times” reported that it amounted to $ 100 million.
It is noteworthy that the first professional fighters league was launched in 2018, which makes it a relatively emerging project in combat sports, and it runs a regular seasonal tournament and a qualifying system based on direct exclusion.
The champions of each weight category receive one million dollars. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has caused a great stir in the sports sector.
From green golf courses to Formula 1 racetracks to football, Saudi clubs have signed big stars, including Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, Brazilian Neymar and Frenchman Karim Benzema.
Saudi Arabia has been seeking for years to strengthen its sports sector as part of an economic transformation plan, and within the framework of a policy based on strengthening the sources of income for the Kingdom.
