The Saudi Pro League, which now boasts stars like Ronaldo, Neymar, and Benzema, has indeed gained significant attention from global football fans due to the substantial financial backing from the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). However, it continues to grapple with a significant issue – the low attendance at matches. On average, SPL matches only draw approximately 8,470 fans per game, despite the presence of these prominent players. This poses a challenge for the league in terms of fan engagement and creating a vibrant atmosphere in the stadiums.
In the match last weekend, coach Steven Gerrard’s team – Al-Ettifaq – lost 0-1 to Al-Riyadh with 686 fans in attendance. This was not the only match that lacked fire in the stadium stands at SPL last weekend, 792 people were the number of spectators for the Al-Akhdoud and Al-Feiha matches, 532 people for the Al-Hazm and Al-Raed matches. .
Meanwhile, the match with the highest number of spectators last week was the match between Al-Ahli and Al-Wehda with 16,919 people. Ronaldo’s match in Al-Nassr’s shirt against Damac FC had a lower number of 16,875 people.
To put this problem into perspective, a match in England’s fourth division between Bradford City and Wrexham was even higher than the match with the largest audience of the last SPL when it reached 21,552 people.
In terms of the average audience of each team since the beginning of the season, Al-Ittihad of Kante and Benzema has the highest audience of 29,044. The remaining three teams in the “big four” group supported by PIF, Ronaldo’s team only ranked 3rd. Specifically, 22,381 people for Al-Hilal ranked 2nd, 20,615 helped Al-Nassr rank 3rd and 19,296 for Al -Ahli.
Even though there are European stars, there are still differences in the stands of the teams (Photo: X, Reuters)
According to statistics, these are also 4/18 teams that have achieved an average viewership of more than 5 digits so far this season.
Meanwhile, the pair with the lowest average among the 18 SPL teams was Abha with 1,988 people.
The match reached the highest number of people of the SPL since the beginning of the season, 59,600 people in the opening match of the tournament when Al-Hilal and Al-Fayha drew 1-1.
In contrast, the gap is huge with the match having the least viewership of 133 people in Al-Okhdood and Riyadh’s match in early September.
Messi created a historic season for MLS
In contrast to Ronaldo, Messi joining MLS has created a fierce wave that has helped fill the stands in many matches. Besides, ticket prices also skyrocketed, bringing great revenue to American football teams.
According to MLS statistics, their average match this year reached 22,111 people/match to create a historic season for American football and this parameter is twice that of the SPL.
