The Saudi Pro League has invested significantly in acquiring a plethora of European stars such as Ronaldo, yet has failed to attract spectators to the stadiums as anticipated.
The tournament, featuring Ronaldo, is struggling to draw crowds to the matches. The Saudi Pro League is grappling with improving the situation of empty stands during games. The Middle Eastern tournament is emerging as a new force in football following a lavish spending spree in the summer. Renowned stars like Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sadio Mane, and many others have followed Cristiano Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia.
However, despite the allure of these star players, many teams in the league continue to witness significantly low attendance figures. In some cases, the number of spectators attending matches is even lower than amateur football leagues in England. This trend persists across most matches, with the recent encounter between Al-Fayha and Al-Riyadh failing to attract even 1,000 spectators.
Specifically, only 811 individuals were present at the Al Majma’a Sport City Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,000 seats, to witness the match between the 9th and 15th placed teams in the league. Only 10% of the stadium’s seating capacity was filled by spectators. The majority of seats remained vacant, with no spectators present to cheer.
This is not the first instance where a match involving Al-Fayha has experienced unexpectedly low fan turnout. In February, a crucial match for Al-Fayha’s relegation battle against Al-Hazem saw less than 400 fans attending. Even a match featuring Ronaldo playing for Al-Nassr saw just over 3,000 people in attendance.
Concerns are also mounting among football enthusiasts that this trend may persist when Saudi Arabia hosts the 2030 World Cup in the future.