Why Is No One Watching Football In Saudi Arabia?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ต.ค. 2023
- Saudi Pro League clubs, backed by the Saudi state, have spent over $1 billion on new signings over the last twelve months, while making Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Neymar Jr. the world's three highest paid footballers.
And yet, in a country of over 35 million people, half of whom are under the age of 25, there have been crowds at games as low as 133 fans, the league's average attendance is just 8,505, and stadiums are less than 30% full.
In this video, HITC Sevens takes a look at attendance statistics in Saudi Arabia this season, why they and TV audience figures are so low, and what can or could have been done to address them.
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fans are loyal to clubs, not players, that is what the "businessmen" don't understand
Well said
@@Footypassion11yep. Even relegated clubs have fans following them through. That's what fans do.
I'd say there are deffo edge cases such as Ronaldo and Messi where this isn't necessarily true - but for the most part... yeah
True. I supported most teams Ronaldo played for, but when he moved to Utd I found it nigh impossible to follow, as an Arsenal fan, despite being a rabid Ronaldo stan. And this move to Al Nassr has totally taken me out of viewing him except on my Twitter feed. And liking the posts of course, but that doesn't do the SPL any good, now does it? So the club was more important to me than following the greatest player to ever grace a footbal pitch, who scores 40 metre goals from the halfway line
@@christiansimbarashe you must be young :))
The fact that my local team from Tønsberg, Norway, who play in the third division, averages a higher attendance (about 3-400) than several Saudi Pro League teams, fills me with undescribable joy 😊
Edit: Typo
same goes for my local team Roda JC. We have been playing mid table 2nd division in the netherlands for many years. Our average attendance is about about 10,000 with a capacity of 20,000 (it's full on big games though).
@@fieliep104010,000 sounds very respectable for a second division dutch side
same goes to my local my club Kerala Blasters which averages 30k+ 😅 .
Heeey! Tønsberg represent!
@@unfunnyguy7295 Sounds great! 🇬🇧❤🇮🇳
Had to work in Riyad a few years back. Spoke to some locals about football. They all looked at me shocked when I said I supported Crystal Palace. They asked why when Arsenal and Chelsea are also in London. They just couldn't comprehend that I would support a local club and not a good local club.
When a Saudi supports a European team, ain't none of them rooting for Benfica or Ajax. They are a bunch of glory hunters
Be real. Why does these clubs have the most fans anyway?
Maybe they were impressed by their form and football
I know some friends who supported and are still supporting chelsea
@@tariqomer4678 They will always have the most fans, but at the same time, around the world you'll see people glory hunt and support local. So Bayern Munich but also Wuhan three towns. Saudi? No Chance.
@@TheJonesdude It can be both ways maybe. I saw people who supported barca back in their glory days.
But when they declined people who support clubs like city bayern appeared from nowhere. These fans can be called plastic fans or like you said glory hunters.
I lived in Saudi Arabia too. It's true that most of them either support Barca or Real, but they have been with the club through the sweet and sorrow.
@@tariqomer4678Most Chelsea fans you meet are of a certain age. Chelsea before the late nineties had won four major trophies in 90 years. If they didn't have the investment they would have been on the same level as West Ham. Most Chelsea fans are glory hunters .
@@WilliamGarrow I mean, if they are STILL loyal to their club, then they are clearly not glory hunters although I agree with you
They also have virtually no established youth academies or domestic player development. Its not a sustainable model. Even the MLS in the US/Canada have established these development systems and increased exposure of the game to youth players....it has grown exponentially in the past 20+ years and now the fan base is stable and growing too.
Damn right, he could have compared it to the MLS and not the EPL and it would have been day and night to what MLS has done in the last 20 years. The MLS is right now on course to be the only league outside of Europe to really get the mix right when it comes to developing and creating a profitable product to rival the top 8 leagues in Europe within the next decade. When it’s all said and done the Kingdom will circle back to why they didn’t create the pathway to sustainability before embarking on the huge spending spree on players looking to collect one last enormous paycheck.
MLS was founded from the ashes of NASL. They clearly learned that bringing star players only without having a great development systems for both young players and domestic players is not a sustainable model.
MLS in its early days were rough (remember the shootout?) but it definitely gets better even with star players like Beckham and Messi coming through, the best players in the league are often not the one with the biggest name.
The MLS next step is to installing a relegation system. This will help clubs naturally build maturity.
You are wrong. There is a scholarship program for Saudi players whose ages range between 15 and 18. This program began 3 years ago and you will see its fruits in the near future.
@@bernardoalejandro2118 None of the other major North American sports leagues -- NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL -- have relegation, and they've all had two to three times as many different clubs win championships as the EPL, for example, has since 1992/93. I think, a system combining an amateur draft, a players' union/collective bargaining and relegation would be best -- but no big-time American owners and no big-time English owners are going to willingly change things; they've too much invested in the way things are. In general, the relegation system appears more democratic -- in the sense that it's a meritocracy -- but that's just an illusion. The US system is actually more democratic -- in that many more clubs actually have a chance to win the championship in any given season. In the EPL, by contrast, there's a 90+% chance it will be one of the Big Six. Most of the rest just feel lucky to be on the same pitch with them. Sooner or later, one would think, the fans of the other clubs will see through such bullsh*t.
I think another issue is people can see through what they're doing.
They can see they're not trying to develop a strong, exciting league. They're not focusing on what makes football so great (rivalries, underdogs, clutch games, multiple exciting comps / chances for silverware)
They're just buying big name players, chucking them all together and hoping it works out.
It's alll about money and everyone can see it.
This is what the MLS used to do.
@@Ese96Agoaye*Is still doing.
@@gandalf_thegrey Less so though.
@@gandalf_thegrey cringe
So simply Manchester United, but as a country
To the Arabs in the comments saying "oh but look at the how many people show up to [insert state owned club]'s games"
You still had a team in the TOP DIVISION of Saudi Arabia bring less than 1000 fans to a game. Thats absolutely pathetic.
I really love that you don’t take it easy on anyone and call out all the fraud, corruption, and callousness on display even if it’s your own nation or players from it.
Bravo.
Fraud and corruption because guys are choosing to play in Saudi ? People love to waffle without saying anything without any actual substance it's amazing
Still waiting for his video on how the British used the 2012 Olympics bidding process as sports washing for Iraq war
@@user-if3lq4cv9xYou mean like the multiple videos he has on british clubs corruption?
@@user-if3lq4cv9x London's 2012 bid was planned and presented well before the Iraq War.
You clearly do not know what sports washing is.
@@Frserthegreenengine You clearly do not know your history, the Iraq war started in March 2003, for the 2012 Olympics Cities interested in hosting were asking to declare by 15th July 2003 :) both would have had some planning going into it beforehand but funny how the 2 coincide so closely but its totally not sports washing right?
It's taken football around 150 years to get to where we are now, the Saudi Pro league can't expect to reach those levels in a few years.
Even 100 years ago the English league had bigger crowds then now. Simple fact is nobody gives a fck about SA
So maybe dont act like its already there or act like it will ever be there.
1:34 696 people is actually mental, pretty sure my villages sunday league club crushes that on derby days 😂 German 9th division btw
Kreisligamentalität
@@ranzroffel2692how germans can squeeze 3 words into 1 will never cease to amaze me
@@franciscomarcelino1251 Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
@@franciscomarcelino1251 Oh we can do better than this... Bundesligarelegationsrückspielübertragung
I follow a 6th tier team in Scotland, we can pull 700+ during spring and summer.
If we are on a run in the Scottish Cup against tier 3 and 4 teams, we can sell out (1300).
I mean we are one of the best supported at that level, but still.
the weird thing is Australian "soccer" has bigger crowds than the Saudi Arabian games and our players aren't even top level but you get like at least 5 thousand people in lower level games, no game goes into the hundreds in terms of attendance and top flight games get 20 thousand at least
How good has the A-League been so far though?
Western United did have a game in the 900s, Macarthur have had a few 3000s or less, but otherwise yeah I've always thought it's nowhere near as bad as the pundits reckon
@@gothestags0910k in Adelaide this weekend wasn't bad I thought
@@Alfie_1My team signed the best goalkeeper in Australia and he single-handedly got us relegated, so I'd say it's pretty terrible.
@@drunkenhobo8020 Who was that?
Even in the league of ireland (LOI) 🇮🇪 where no investment or advertising has been put in by the national association and where Premier league dominates even the LOI is growing year on year. 20% attendance growth on last year.
This growth has exploded since covid and most of the top division has just turned full time professional this season.
My team Bohemian FC (Bohs) is fan owned and we are sold out every home game 4000 approx fans.
Football culture reigns supreme and
Other teams in the LOI bar a couple sell loads of tickets and are sold out each week. Football culture wins over big names. Without emotional investment you'll never get long term growth in a league.
Also tickets for the league of ireland vary from 10 to 20 euro a game and the league runs from March to October so you can get a football fix while big leagues are on off season.
Also the atmosphere is class look up TH-cam vlogs and you'll see serious atmosphere with pyro and all (even though its banned 🤣) as we say no pyro, no party
True, I loved visiting LOI games when I moved to Dublin in 2016. Cheap tickets, early kick off times compared to Germany and authentic, straightforward football on display. Not to mention the enthusiastic supporters everywhere.
Yeah, I know you Irish have a footballing culture and passion. I’m English, but always like Ireland to do well. I remember as a kid, watching them in the 94 World Cup and cheering them on.
The Irish league still has very small attendance, only 3 000 on average lol. Compare that with Scotland, a similar size country and neighbor, that has 15 000 on average.
@@gulanhem9495 Of course, sure Ireland doesn't have doesn't have a league ground with over 10K capacity. Have to start somewhere. Take out Celtic and Rangers and average attendances would be similar.
@@alankenny4308
No, it's not just Rangers and Celtic in Scotland. Heart, Hibernian and Aberdeen have over 15,000 average attendance and Dundee United over 10,000.
Meanwhile in Ireland, the clubs 3 to 6 have only 3-4,000 lol
There are 3 truths in the world of football.
No player is bigger than a club.
Buying big player names won't make you a big club.
Fans are loyal to the club first. Players are secondary
Make that two truths. The second one certainly helped Chelsea and Man City along the way.
@@georgerubypoppy1063 still small clubs
@@michaelballack3051 Chelea: 5 Premier League titles this century (all in the last 18 years), 7 times FA Cup winners in the last 26 years, UEFA Champions League winners 2012 & 2021, I could go on.
Manchester City: 7 Premier League titles this century (all in the last 11 years), 3 times FA Cup winners this century, current UEFA Champions League holders.
You may not like them, or the manner in which they have achieved their successes, and I`m no great admirer myself but to say they are not big clubs is just denial of fact.
@@georgerubypoppy1063 Still small clubs.
Messi is absolutely bigger than inter Miami 😂
In Tasmania (the little island of the arse end of Australia) with a population of 560,000 we have regularly had local league crowds of 1000+ 😂
And zero in other clubs
BS.
Good point about the distribution of the league.
I became a regular viewer of the Japanese J. League this season precisely because they air games for free on TH-cam to my country.
Same with me and the (Northern) Irish league with BBC iPlayer. I also occasionally watch the German Division 2 and even the Australian league on TH-cam
@@memofromessex2. Bundesliga lesss go
Or as we call it "Will nicht gegen Kann nicht" which means "Doesnt want to versus Incapeable of"
Which country are you from?
@@lalboimanlun1230 I think they air their games on youtube in most countries. According to their website China, Macao, Australia, Israel, Thailand, Austria, Germany, Ghana, Switzerland, and Nigeria are the countries where the games are on TV, not youtube. Worldwide news rights are on SNTV. The rest of the world youtube.
I've Always Preferred The J League Over Saudi Anyday. The J League Feels Like Real Football Unlike Saudi
I was puzzled because I knew there's no shortage of football fans in Saudi Arabia, but honestly forgot about the geographical accessibility problem for a second.
There are 'white elephant' stadiums in many countries, but, with this amount of money flowing into the sport, I assumed that the wider infrastructure would also be invested into along with the project, especially when they are making a bid to host the World Cup
The USA is much bigger than Saudi Arabia, yet the MLS doesn’t have trouble filling stadiums (except for montreal but they’re garbage)
@@connoredward354 Football culture is different In Saudi we don't tend to go to games unless its a big occasion, people prefer to gather at family and friends houses were we will have a big meal together and smoke a hookah pipe while watching the match. In the West people tend go to stadiums more often as a drinking oppurtunity
@@user-if3lq4cv9x speaking as someone in the west who goes to games, that’s not the case due to how expensive beer is. There’s plenty of people who drink while watching sports, they just go to bars or house parties - not just the stadiums. Personally, I don’t drink at games unless somebody is paying for me, and I know that’s the case for many others
@@connoredward354 Do you drink before game and then after games?
As I said football culture is different, people over here think why am I going to sit in a uncomfortable chair when I can watch in comfort. My father and his friends have been huge football fans from before I was born but the only league matches they go is when they can get a private box to watch match. My father is over 50 and only time he has gone to general admission is when national team plays,
@@user-if3lq4cv9x I personally don't, and my friends neither, yet still we go to games. At most we'll go to the bar afterwards, but not usually as we're working the next day and don't want to go to bed really late as the games tend to end towards 23 in Spain
@HITCSevens you’ve as always carried out a better analysis and breakdown as to why the Saudi Pro league is highly unlikely not to take off and become profitable, than any other pro ‘pundits’ on tv or radio. 👏🏾
I hope he doesn't get killed by Saudi's 😂😂
My guy has a personal Vendetta against Jordan Henderson LMFAOOOOOOOO 🤣. The way he made fun of Hendy had me in tears
Yes, I think most people miss the point that he highlighted from 19:15: the investment in football is “bread and circuses” for the masses, to keep them from revolting.
PS That “Eddie Howe” gag at the end was top tier.
Because you can find a better quality game at your local park on a Sunday
Saudi league will never get eyeballs if it's old players moving to the Saudi league,
The league will only start to get eyeballs if its young Saudi players moving out of the Saudi league to go to big European clubs and performing consistently... this is something the Chinese seem to have realised .
Agree
Hulk and Oscar left in their prime..
Nobody watched the Chinese league.
I sometimes wonder if people actually watched the video. How can this be the conclusion when it’s clear to see the problems and why more money won’t help.
@@notieming nope the above comment is absolutely correct.
The Chilean league don't have 10 dollars between them but nobody can't say they don't have excellent youth coaches and are knowledgeable about football and are tactically astute.
If billions of dollars that Saudi spent was done so in a South American league that would have been a game changer.
@@Micfri300 You can buy players, but you can’t buy fans. Buying younger player rather than superstars isn’t going to make fans. Good marketing and infrastructure over decades will, which was one point in the video. Hence why I wonder if people actually watched the video. Comment above is just delusion
I actually watched a couple of Saudi games last season, soon after Ronaldo went there. The only reasons I did were 1) morbid curiosity, and 2) Sky Sports were streaming them live, for free, on their TH-cam channel, and there was nothing else on at the time, so I figured, why not?
The thing is, those free streams have stopped now because of the new broadcast deals the Saudi League have agreed, and I'm not exactly falling over myself to watch more. I literally couldn't care less about the Saudi League, no matter who's playing there! Asking me to pay _anything_ to watch that league makes it an instant "no" from me. It's not even that good to watch! If it was free, and there was nothing else on? Maybe I'd have it on, in the background. Pay for it??? No chance mate!
There's zero prestige. Zero stakes. Zero reason to watch it or even care about it.
Like, I'm English, but I do watch a LOT of foreign football. If Real Madrid are playing Barcelona, I'm interested. If Bayern Munich are playing Dortmund, I'm interested. If AC Milan are playing Juventus, I'm interested. If Monaco are playing Lens, I'll probably stick it on.
Hell, if Erzgebirge Aue are playing Duisburg in the German 3rd division, I'll probably still give it a watch, just because I'm interested in German football!
But if Al-Ittihad are playing Al-Hilal? I literally don't care. I don't care that N'Golo Kante and Neymar might be involved in the match. I care so little that I *literally had to Google those teams* just now to find out that those two players even played for them! Those teams mean absolutely nothing to me.
I'd genuinely much rather watch the upcoming Barnsley vs Horsham FA Cup game than a Saudi Pro League game! That game actually has some prestige attached to it!
What a prediction with Henderson mate.
I love that even though you clearly do not like what the Saudis are doing here, you created a well balanced and reasoned video explaining what is going wrong here without resorting to "they are evil and deserve to fail."
In fairness, at this point, I don't think it needs pointing out. Even the most average of average football fan can work it out 😅
Though it goes without saying that MbS IS Evil and does deserve to fail.
Saudi Arabia 2034 FIFA
@@p_booth_fanyou'd be suprised by how many people don't take into account the league's core player base
@@KygoCalvinHarris-xu4kvWhat a joke😂
one thing I've noticed is that a lot of football fans in Asia prefer European football to domestic football, what I mean by that is people would watch the prem, La Liga, and Seria A rather than watching their leagues, its not that the sport is not big it is but the focus is on European leagues and comps rather than domestic leagues and comps
to add to that even internationally people there cheer on south american and european nations because their countries usually aren't that successful on the world stage
@@Yvng_MCRthis is partly a thing in Norway as well, we haven't qualified to the EC or WC since 2000, so many fans choose to support teams like Brazil, England, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Argentina and Portugal instead 😂
This is the difference. Look at South American football, it’s really big even without any financial backing because in sa everyone watches their team first even if european football is still big
Yeah most of my Japanese football friends follow the Japanese Players in Europe and thus Europeam leagues more than the J League and the J League is probably one of the most attractive in Asia
A lot of Asians play in top clubs
I think there is something else going on. When you compare this to the Australian A-League, when Australia has a smaller population, much larger in size, has more deserts, games are also played in 40 degree heat and major cities are much much further apart.
Football is also the 3rd most popular sport, the highest profile foreign player is Jack Rodwell and yet the A-League has a higher average attendance.
It's a lot easier to care about a town when the town cares about you.
Since Saudi Arabia has a culture of not giving the slightest fuck about it's people, why would it's people care about it's institutions.
I don't know if they have local pride and banter in the same way we do.
I'm not sure how any town can stand out when every town is covered in the yoke of oppression.
It's just obviously such a dumb idea to try and adopt western sporting cultures without adopting western human cultures.
The good thing is this whole mess has educated lots of people on how shit Saudi Arabia really is.
The exact opposite of what they are trying to achieve lol
Probably the price of tickets?
There is another example of this sportswashing program: Kazakhstan. It joined UEFA since 2002 by leaving its former confederation (AFC), yet for most of its UEFA membership, it has been running football completely unrelated to the way how Europe runs football. Technically UEFA membership, Kazakhstan remains deeply AFC by its football system.
When people talk about recent shock successes of Kazakhstan in European football, especially in Euro 2024 qualifying, many critics claimed that the modern Kazakhstan national team is full of Astana players. FC Astana, the biggest football club in the country, is financed by none other but the despotic Kazakhstani government of Nursultan Nazarbayev and is currently succeeded by his henchman Kassym Jomart Tokayev, using the vast oil money from the Caspian Sea (Kazakhstan has the 12th largest oil reserve in the world). And this is extremely notable because Kazakhstan is not a democracy, it is an authoritarian state, very much similar to Saudi Arabia (albeit more liberal).
This is even more so when Kazakhstan League itself is not a league for the common. For most part since independence, it is Astana who dictated football in the country while other clubs are left starved and poorly financed, fans typically don't watch games of domestic league unless if they are up against some European clubs. There is also zero interest in developing grassroot movement, as Kazakhstan's football structure is shockingly abysmal. This means their shock Euro 2024 qualifying performance is not based on merit, but it is entirely a lucky chain of event, plus suddenly they got a good coach.
The only difference is Kazakhstan has made itself outcast of European football since Kazakhstan is not a democracy, equivalent to Belarus, Russia and Azerbaijan. Saudi Arabia is not a democracy either, but it sticks with the AFC since AFC, unlike UEFA, is far more acceptance to dictatorships. Had Kazakhstan stayed inside the AFC instead of UEFA, their sportswashing program could have had more chances to succeed in Asia rather than unveiling their incompetence and widespread mismanagement in Europe.
At least Kazakhstan doesn’t commit war crimes like Saudi Arabia and the US do. Also the crackdown on freedom of expression is not nearly as harsh as Saudi’s. And as for the oil money, is it their fault that they have oil? Does it make them evil just because oil happens to be there? And there’s tons of undemocratic countries in UEFA like Albania which hasn’t invested anything in development and rarely calls up any players who are even born and raised in Albania. At least Kazakhstan uses their own players. I don’t know why specifically you are coming for Kazakhstan when tons of other countries do all the things you accuse them of. Also sportswashing is a cringe term. The US government has killed more civilians in wars than any other country since WWII and starts more wars then any other country, and on top of that, government negligence causes 1-2 million preventable deaths every year (mostly indirectly due to lack of access to healthcare, housing, and decent quality food). But you’d never accuse them of “sportswashing” for the 2026 World Cup
@@dbtalahuonyommusic7067 Albania is an elected democracy, it has been a democratic nation since 2000 and has free and fair elections. Albania is far more successful than Kazakhstan with regard to football because, while Albania has a large diaspora, it does foment a football culture, even when the country is certainly very poor compared to Greece or Serbia. Plus, Albania is a Muslim majority country like Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan, which made Albania even more admirable when it is capable at being secular and fair.
Kazakhstan, as I mentioned, is not Saudi Arabia 100%. But it is not a democracy so why should people accept a dictatorship? Or maybe because of the vast oil? Don't forget Saudi Arabia also used 100% domestic players but Saudi Arabia has been able to hijack European football due to their prestige and vast oil production. Kazakhstan, a country where football record is even far inferior than Saudi Arabia, is what exactly it could be if not for the fact that it has the resources Europe is desperate for. Just look at how Russia used to hijack Europe before the invasion of Ukraine.
@@diomuda7903 free and fair elections according to what? Maybe that’s what they say but the politicians are all controlled by bribery and mafia. Also it may be more democratic than Kazakhstan but definitely not more secular. It has slowly been slipping closer to religious rule since the fall of communism when most of the world, even Saudi Arabia, is getting more secular.
@@diomuda7903 also if the team used only products of the domestic development system even Andorra would view Albania as an easy 3 points and San Marino could at least grind for a couple of draws
Except for the big 4 clubs: Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, Al Nassr and Al Ahli. The rest of the clubs have close to zero fanbase. Its so weird
Hard to get your home football supported when European leagues have been marketed extremely well for past 30 years.
@@ThexMJTfair point but none league teams right down the English pyramid can still attract hundreds and sometimes thousands of fans despite being next door to the premier league
in greece its even worse a game beetween 2 worse sides volos and kifishia had almost no people in the crowd
@@indiekiddrugpatrol3117 it’s almost like those teams are tightly ingrained into their respective communities and have had fervent local support for generations, whereas those the SPL became relevant less than a year ago and is clearly propaganda.
@@indiekiddrugpatrol3117it's be because English football has about a hundred plus years of history compared to other nations.
🇧🇬 🇧🇬 🇧🇬
Day 5 - Alfie, please do a video on the pitiful situation the Bulgarian national football team is currently in. Here are a couple of points to give you an idea about what I'm talking about:
- Currently, the team is in a streak of 8 winless games, at the bottom of its qualification group for the 2024 Euro, with no chances of qualifying, after losing to opponents such as Montenegro and Lithuania.
- The team's last win was almost a year ago - on 16.11.2022 in a friendly against Cyprus. Our last win in an official match was more than a year ago - on 26.09.2022 against North Macedonia.
- The national football team of Bulgaria has been constantly performing bad for at least the last 20 years. The last big tournament we played was the 2004 Euro in Portugal, where we were humiliated in the group stage.
- Many supporters blame the current bosses of the Bulgarian Football Union for this downfall. The most notable of them are Borislav Mihaylov, Emil Kostadinov and Yordan Lechkov - 3 players who were part of the great 1994 WC team which reached the semi-finals of the tournament. Sadly, those people's success as players has been overshadowed by their lack of capability or willingness to resolve many of the problems in our football - the out-of-date training systems, the poor football infrastructure etc. What's worse is that they refuse to resign a failure after another and they have changed the rules of the union in a way that makes them irremovable for more than 18 years.
- Recently a couple of players from the next generation - Dimitar Berbatov, Stiliyan Petrov and Martin Petrov started a campaign, trying to overthrow the aforementioned but as I said the rules are in the bosses' favour.
- Meanwhile fans are getting really angry with the situation and are starting to take measures. Last weekend, during many matches of the First and Second Football Leagues the fans were chanting against Mihaylov and company and displayed banners against them. Of course, the BFU fined the clubs for "obscene chants and banners".
- There is a campaign on social media calling fans of all local clubs to put their differences aside and come to the Euro qualifier with Hungary on 16.11 and show their disapproval of the current BFU leaders.
That's the main points, I'm sure that if you dig a little you'll find much more. Please consider doing such a video, the anti-BFU sentiments are getting stronger and we need to disturb those self-serving ex-legends in every way possible. Thank you and keep up the good work!
It's so shame to see what happened in Bulgaria. Even the club's performance in Europe were so underwhelming. Notable example was Ludogorets Razgrad's disastrous 1-7 loss at the hands of Nordsjaelland in the Conference League this season. Ludogorets had even enjoyed two Champions League appearances before in 2014-15 and 2016-17.
Before the Macedonia game i heard that they where geting a bit better.
Afcorse afther that win they just went to the good old team we know.
He already did a video on Bulgarian football some time ago and another one on Lodogarats Razgard (probably butchered that name lol).
@@BulletClub444Life Those happened before two important humiliating defeats for the Bulgarian Football: Ludogorets' worst defeat in European competitions as I said earlier, which was a 1-7 trouncing to Nordsjaelland, and the national football team's shock 0-2 defeat to Lithuania at home, who were at the bottom of the qualifying group beforehand.
@@ezraezra2928 Damn, wasn't aware that more bad stuff happened. I mean is there anything slightly positive? Like some promising young guys in u-19 or something?
My club, Nashville SC, has seen average attendances of about 22,000 this season. That more people turn up to watch Hany Mukhtar than do Cristiano Ronaldo makes me happy. 😊
I live in Saudi and there is huge upgrades going on at all stadiums currently and a mile of the surrounding areas to stadiums so unless you live within walking distance to a stadium its not worth the hassle as you have to drive to another city and park somewhere then walk further to then get on coaches from the centre to stadium and with match times at 9pm people enjoy coming home after work and watching football while eating and having family or friends.
Just wait until our stadiums are finished and you will realise that you can't compete with our teams or our infastructure
@@user-if3lq4cv9xyour teams are trash, the top 4 signing a bunch of attacking players doesn’t change that. Your sports infrastructure isn’t even on Mexico’s level, let alone America’s 😂
@@user-if3lq4cv9xI’ll believe it when I see it. For now, MLS is miles better than the SPL
MLS is a joke 😂 retirement league where Messi can barely even score .
@@twenty-2923wc winner :]
great video! it is very clear that you did your research on the region!
I must say I like the opening punch on Saudi Arabia about the bombing of Yemen. I find it disgusting that players go there, a country who has started a war of aggression against a neighbour.
If Russian clubs were buying players for hundreds of millions a year, there would be public outrage. But UEFA and FIFA banned them for their war of aggression... Whereas nobody cares about the Yemenite, both because they're not europeans like the ukrainians, and because Saudi Arabia is a good ally of many western states because they buy tons of weapons from France, the UK, the USA, etc. We are even going to give them world cup hosting ! It's disgusting... Their war is just as horrible as the one Russia has started. Or Israël for that matter. But allies of NATO seem to be protected from any judgement for any of their crimes. Buy weapons from the USA and western Europe and you're safe from any sanctions.
As a Liverpool supporter, I'm really disppointed in Gerrard and Henderson mainly, but also Mané and Fabinho...
Mane has a city to feed so you gotta excuse him
@@JC-cn9iq Yeah I know he's doing great work in his hometown, so I don't blame him. But he could have won a lot in Europe aswell tbh
@@hugolouessard3914 his stint at Bayern was a disaster and they didn’t want him and it’s unlikely another elite European club would have taken him on at 31
Just like israel bomb innocent palestinians and still play in champions league, euro cup. Just like france is oppresing ppl in africa and till play football, just like usa play most violence around the world and still play football, just like england was continuing its apartheid regime in south africa and still playing football and i can go on same is saudi
@@JC-cn9iq Yeah I know Bayern wanted him to go, but he's just 31, contrary to you I think he would have found a very good club that wanted him. Just one year before he was one of the best wingers in the world.
I think he's had some propositions from big clubs. Maybe they paid less than the Saudi club where he is, but I doubt Saudi was the only ones to want him.
But I may be wrong of course, maybe that was the only option he had.
To compare it to another Saudi-backed sports league, LIV Golf has averaged about 150,000-250,000 tv viewers for its broadcasts this year on The CW, which is a channel that exists. Considering that these events are strategically scheduled to compete with less prestigious PGA Tour events such as the John Deere Classic which are getting nearly 4x that, it's not great.
And LIV tournaments were freely available to stream on TH-cam last year...
In Saudi a lot of people have 3rd party streaming devices to be able to watch sports from across the world
Except the Ryder Cup you really don't have teams in Golf, which is why getting the big names in the sport could work in Golf but in Football you support your club regardless of the players.
@@Retro64_ There is huge upgrades going on at all stadiums currently and a mile of the surrounding areas to stadiums so unless you live within walking distance to a stadium its not worth the hassle as you have to drive to another city and park somewhere then walk further to then get on coaches from the centre to stadium and with match times at 9pm people enjoy coming home after work and watching football while eating and having family or friends.
@@user-if3lq4cv9xyou're just going around the comment section clowning. Stop it bro
In Brazil we have something somewhat similar, regarding the concentration of clubs, in Rio for example, you have 4 big clubs and the rest is mostly neglected with very little support in comparison
We also have the issue of the country being really big, so attendance can vary a lot
However, people tend to be really loyal to the clubs they support, and matches usually get decent crowds
Nah, the international view is not like this, they don't see concentration.
14 different teams won the cup, 9 won the league, 8 won Libertadores, 4 won Sudamericana only this century. There were 16 different clubs (maybe 17 if Botafogo win this year league), all of them crowding their venues to watch their teams take a trophy home. And it is not like Coritiba, Bahia and Fortaleza (even Criciúma, Ituano and Juventude, from smaller cities) have weak attendancy.
@henriquectx but compare it to the lower sides, and you will see it, there isn't a culture of supporting the local team. You just need to look at the most supported clubs to see what I mean, I'm not saying it's the same, it's somewhat similar
I follow football here and I can't barely name any teams outside of série A
You're out of your mind. Nothing you said made any sense. Brasil has 13 teams that are considered big clubs. Different teams win in Brasil all the time.
@MS-wi9hn my dude, I'm not saying it's the SAME I'm saying is somewhat similar
Mainly in varying attendance due to the size of the country and the lack of support for local clubs, usually people go for the big clubs, you won't find something like Europe where small teams get 10k supporters for a home match, that's what I'm saying, especially in Rio this is very apparent
The gap between the lower divisions is legitimately insane in Brazil
@@gabsnandes7818 It is more concentrated at the top, but very very few countries get 10k avg attendance in their lower divisions. But that makes sense. Brazil has a lot of "top" clubs which have great attendances. And those fans have to come from somewhere. Still, I don't understand the comparison to Saudi.
Hi Alfie!! Another great, wonderful and informative video as always! I have request for a video i think would interseting about the current state of Argentinian football. Now you might say “but thats not interesting at all, you won a world cup, and your the best team in the world” but the national team and the recent tournament wins have really papered the cracks on our league football. Every season we have new formats, there are teams that get promoted because theyre linked with political figures, team like Barracas Central who as recently as 208 were in 3rd division, but rapidly ascended when a fan of them got elected as AFA president (they even named their parking lot of a stadium after him, imagine) and every season their are rumors of relegation being suspended, the 2nd division has 38 teams. Etc etc. I think its a train wreck that should be shown to a larger audience, and to show what we call “The most damaging world cup win in history”
Just from your title I instantly understood why Messi and others opted for America. Money isn’t everything, though that’s part of it.
Hes been to Miami for holidays way before he became good friends with Beckham
Also the US league, MLS is on solid footing in an American context yes there is still pro relegation debate happening and I think in the long run there will be some form of that but all the ingredients to sustain growth is there.
He probably got some stock options to buy into Miami after making it popular. If MLS becomes a big thing, Inter Miami might be worth $5 billion in 20 years.
You should a video on a top ten list of Scottish derbies outside the Old Firm...would be good to promote more of Scottish football on here.
The craziest thing I get from watching this video is that knowing after the success of the Gamers8 esports tournament series, Saudi Arabia are planning their own "Esports World Cup" and they most likely will do exactly what you said with utilising Twitch and/or other streaming platforms like they did with Gamers8.
The machine of football as a business forgets one simple thing, sport isn't just a product that you can spend money on and market if there isn't the emotional connection there. Football is a fundamental part of society in Europe, and Latin America, I'm not saying the rest of the world doesn't and can't have a connection to football, but there is a profound emotional connection to supporting our clubs, growing up we learn the hurt and joy of watching our teams win and lose in the heat, in the rain, for me during my now long ago teeange years, my father and I didn't communicate well, except we could always talk about and watch football together, you can't just throw money at something an expect to artificially create passion.
Exactly my point. To create that sort of emotion and passion it'll take decades. Cricket is and will be for the foreseeable future the main sport. I'm pretty sure it'll feel weird watching Brazil play Italy in a cricket match. 😆😆
@mustakimrahman8527 Cricket is not popular in Saudi Arabia. The most popular sport in Saudi Arabia is football
@mustakimrahman8527 Cricket is mostly only popular in India and Pakistan in other countries they don't watch or care about cricket
You have a point, but it's probably not as simple. Saudi Arabia has a fair bit of history in football, and they weren't doing too bad. Problem is that with these massive investments, players, and wages, Saudi Arabia has gone publicity-shopping, not necessarily developing football. Most of the players they have gotten are actually on the fag end of their careers, stars they might be.
Once Saudi Arabia realises that passion in football works both ways, including fan violence, dissent, and overall bad publicity, they will scale back.
@@shiladityapandit1634u think only south america and europeans are passionate about football? U r wrong
Here's the thing - European clubs like Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona, Bayern etc. are recognized brands worldwide and naturally football fans will gravitate towards those recognizable brands. Sure, some do support their local clubs, but to a lesser scale than say Manchester United or Arsenal. The Saudi governament tries to elevate 4 of the country's most decorated clubs to the same level of brand recognition as Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, but what they do not realize is that they can't expect this to happen overnight. It's a process that takes years and there are more failed experiments than success stories.
Well there are 92 English League clubs with stronger fanbases than they have. Defo takes time
People already support teams like Al Hilal, Al Ettifaq and Al Nassr from their great grandad times. For example Al Ettifaq are from 1941 with star player like wingback Zayani who win Asian Cup 1984
Clubs in englands 6th división take more away fans than Saudi Arabian clubs get home fans. The majority of people in England support their local team.
Good point. The best example of a failed experiment is the Chinese league in the middle 2010-s. They tried to do basically the same as Saudis, buy some top-players for ridiculous prices and lure them with ridiculous wages, and in the end they failed miserably.
In their case it will never happen.
I wasn't expecting an excellent business analysis and business strategy idea at the end of the video 📊📈👍
More reasons why you are the best Football journo on TH-cam.
Keep up the good work, Alfie! 👍👍
i really liked this video. didn't expect solutions for the failures in the saudi arabian business model but i'm grateful you provided them
Great video explaining the football culture in Saudi Arabia and Middle East in general
Always perfect with the timing.
I’m a big football fan, never even seen highlights of Saudi Pro league but I’ve seen almost every Messi played in MLS
They’ve made the highlights free and if you have an Apple device which most people do around the world you can get the games priced according to your local market. The highlights are instantly on all social media platforms generating millions of views, the quality is also far better then the Saudi pro league and backed by local infrastructure (academies, fans, and businesses)
Great journalism once again. You are bang on with the free to air on Twitch observation, people are financially strapped and would happily watch Ronaldo et al for free.
Really great research and presentation on this one!
You didnt really consider that there is a difference between fans that are happy to go to big, interesting games and people who will religiously go to games every week. Its okay that Saudi Arabia took a lot of fans to Qatar for the world cup, but that doesnt really show interest in the actual sport more so the occasion.
There's a lot of things Saudis will do religiously, but football isn't one of them.
@@hasselettwow thats a hard quote😲🔥🔥
he did consider that. i remember him making that point a few times, actually.
I find it odd that nobody involved in planning the Saudi league's marketing thought "Should we sign Neymar for the team that wears yellow shirts and blue shorts and Benzema for the team with the blue jerseys?" or "should we try and sign a couple of the best Malaysian / Indonesian / Thai / Vietnamese players to try and get some attention / viewers in those markets?", but then again, I'm not sure there was much planning going on at all...
Well done again Alfie. Great analysis and no punch pulling.
Hey Alfie. Love your vids. I just found out today about the African Football League, idk what's the point of such a competition, I literally found out because my team, Mamelodi Sundowns' match vs Moroka Swallows was postponed. I hope you make a video on this, it's very interesting, because that competition will generate very little money and I think it's just an experiment/trial run to see whether a bigger European Super league by FIFA/UEFA is feasible.
You can buy teams, players and maybe even fans but you can't buy passion or culture. Those things develop over time and can't spontaneously exist upon demand, no matter how much money you spend.
take your girlfriend and get a few beers at the Stadium - no wait - fun is illegal in Saudi
@@joso7228ye females are frowned on over there.
Best just go with your boy friends. Oh wait. They don't like that either.
I suppose if they want to have a successful league they will have to make some big changes at the next election.
Oh, that's right, they don't have elections either.
Well they will have to campaign for elections.
Oh wait, campaigning for things gets your murdered.
Hmmm, this is a tricky one.
I suppose if they want a successful league they will have to rip up the entire countries awful culture and power structures, drop the religious shit and join this century.
So any day now. Lol.
Same with clubs like Ingolstadt, Regensburg and Augsburg, that only „recently“ managed to get a foothold in professional football in Germany. Before that they were struggling in amateur football and because of that many people there went to watch Bayern Munich games instead, since those towns aren‘t far away from Munich. And this is how many residents in these towns became Bayern fans.
calm down alcoholic@@joso7228
@@joso7228 shows how hollow your life is that you think only way to have fun is getting drunk
I think you should also talk about Thai League. Thai League is one of the richest football leagues in Asia and in fact, Thai clubs have financial capabilities beyond imagination to even some of the most powerful clubs in Asia or even mid-sized clubs in Europe. Just a few months ago Thai richest club Buriram bought Ramil Sheydayev from Azerbaijan's richest club Qarabag because the Thai team could offer to pay more than double than Qarabag is such an example. This is one of the key reasons why Thailand has one of the best football leagues in Asia. Yet their national team is pathetic at the fullest as they have never been able to advance beyond the Southeast Asian boundary and has struggled to even find the first win at the final round.
is football the most popular sport in thailand
What do I think about bassel jradi ? He's probably one of the most skillful and amazing lebanese players in the last years and played at some high levels before joining Bangkok united
Interesting. I supposed this kind of investment is making Thailand basically Saudi Arabia but with Buddhism as state religion. But it could also explain much of Thailand's miserable records. Just realised that Thailand even lost 0-8 to Georgia away. In comparison, China did lose 0-8 but China was beaten by Brazil, a team that is far more powerful than Georgia.
@@nayeemhasan2713 Football is the most popular in Thailand. The majority of Thais watch football and strongly follow their local and international clubs. I was in Thailand and I had seen massive passions for football among Thais.
@@nayeemhasan2713 Yes, but mainly English clubs though. They have a well supported league but love Premier league football and particularly gambling (illegally) on English games. The most popular Thai sport is Muay Thai (Thai kick boxing), and the top Muay Thai fighters are super stars. There is a also a TV channel dedicated to animal fighting like cock fighting etc..
One of your best videos so far, Alfie, love this channel!
Another good and fearless Video Alfie and well-researched as always
topping out around 60,000 for big games and dropping into three figures with an average of 8,000 is roughly the same distribution as the 32 teams in the top 3 flights in Scotland. From the Old Firm down to Alloa and Annan
The Saudi Pro League has 18 teams and a population about 7 times bigger than Scotland
And 28 times bigger than scotland and 8 times bigger than united kingdom keep that in mind too its not easy to travel that big of a country thay have to take domestic flights to go in away games
yes but they have cristiano ronaldo, we have stevie may
@@macariuswrench Stevie May isn’t a rapist
@@TomPage51 tell that to the arabs son
@@macariuswrench you mean Dundee United?
honedtly the twitch idea is such a good one I’m surprised no one’s tried it yet
Another fascinating watch
I love how this channel morphed from a list channel "top 7 biggest flops" into a good quality sports journalism channel, kudos! 👌👌
You support your team not because they buy star players, but because you feel part of the community, win or lose. Saudi football now is just show business
I am Saudi myself and agree with most of the things you stated about marketing strategies and league promotion, It is really a crucial issue and I hope they can acknowledge it and try to fix it.
I was wondering, how much do tickets to Saudi League matches cost?
I know cost isn't the only factor but how does it compare with going to a restaurant or the cinema?
I live in Spain and for a family of 4 it can cost just 20€ to go to the cinema and maybe around 50€ to eat out. It would cost a lot more to go to see the local second division club play. So, if I go to a live game, I stick to the local leagues where it's much cheaper, around 10€ a ticket.
Saudi football is having some impact here though, I've seen a lot of kids wearing Ronaldo's Al-Nassr shirt!
From what I know and experienced a ticket usually ranges from 30- 50 riyals which is 8€-15€ for a normal seat, I went to 4 Al-Ahli home games and one away against Al-Ittihad this season, and I think that the prices are somewhat reasonable. @@nickvickers3486
@@nickvickers3486to watch Al nassr(Ronaldo) , it costs you around 110-140$
@@nickvickers3486ticket price free most of times
@@nickvickers3486starting from 5£ to 200k£
I think you also need to remember that Saudi Arabia and the majority of Gulf regimes, in general, function their football leagues very closed off to outsiders. They are okay to let transfer of foreign players to their countries, but they ban their own local players from moving abroad. This isolated mindset explains why they cared nothing about grassroot, but only from the position of strength.
Dude You are totaly wrong, the high salary that gulf teams gave to their local players is 10x more than the salary that could a team in Europe gave it to a gulf player, so it's obviously that local players prefer to stay in hid own land
@@ysfcement4741 duhh 🤦. That's why gulf clubs pay their local players so much. It is to keep their players in their country
@@ysfcement4741Dude googling salaries of Saudi national players gives weekly salaries of £15-20k a week!!That's easily payable by European teams!!!So obviously the players are not good enough to excel outside their homeland!!!This is bourne out by the great football played in the league!!They don't have the hunger or ambition of the South Americans Africans etc
Nonsense. This is exactly how most of Europe worked in the 20th century and people were crazy about football back then just like they are now. Not letting their players play abroad is the one good thing that they are doing, they are not letting Western degenerates, Western imperialist scum take what's not theirs.
So glad this video was made. I’ve spent so much time (which says a lot about what I have going on) arguing with people about how the lowly MLS is a much smarter, better run, and more sustainable system with to the a more entertaining game than the Saudi league
The MLS on paper and in the bank is richer and well run than most football leagues in Europe for that matter. The Europeans have love for the game, passion and history but the Americans know how to create a business out of something. MLS will be humming and knocking for the next decade or two ready to pounce at the right time.
@@JeanClaudeCOCOagree the MLS are doing so many things right. The only problems I see with the MLS is the lack of jeopardy. Having a promotion/ relegation pyramid system really raises the stakes to very dangerous levels however it greats the passion, extreme elation and misery. Another issue is that MLS teams need to be involved in playing competitive matches against the top European teams. I know where going to a be an expanded FIFA world cup, so maybe that completion will have a bright future.
MLS is better managed because the US learned from the mistakes they made with the old NASL
The Saudi work week starts on Sunday meaning some of these games are the equivalent of a Monday 3 PM kick off away at Luton. Of course, the crowds are gonna be low, not to take away from their fast. That is the Saudi league. But context should be delivered in full form.
12:50 "when you've got a two-hour road trip [in 40-degree heat ] just to get to the game." *And can't even have a cold beer once you arrive.*
Maybe for the time being avoid the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Alfie.
it’s because true football fans don’t watch oil leagues.
Yes, we watch the white people oil league, where clubs are own by oil tycoons but the fan base is white.
@@c9nju390with history mate and actual fans
What are you on about,It is their own League so it has nothing to Do with oil
@c9nju390 the bundesliga is not owned by the tycoons by the fans.
Yet I still watch the bundesliga.
Your theory is pathetic just like yourself.
They don't understand how important history is. They think money is the answer to everything.@@btbtm5189
You do know when Messi got injured in the MLS or got substituted people would leave or not go. People heard he wouldn't play and tickets were resold for 70-80% off.
I don't think this is a Saudi only problem. You simply cannot build a world class league overnight no matter what country you're in or how much money you have. The fans are a major part of it.
12 year olds going to see Taylor Swift and Beyonce twice a year are not what make concerts great. It's the fans going 2x a month to their local venues to see midtier acts, THEY are the ones keeping the show going. The stars just get all the attention and get the people that don't really like football/concerts to go.
Yea, but that’s for one team and one player in the league. Support in MLS across the board is a lot better than Saudi.
Teams like Atlanta United and Seattle Sounders average like 30k ppl a game and have no player near the fame of Messi.
i wasn't interested in the Saudi League but Alfie, your mini docs are edifying and hilarious (and sometimes challenging).
I couldn't tell you which network even has rights in the US. I think they tried to make it a thing before Messi arrived in Miami but after that even X, formerly Twitter stopped caring. I guess the thing I could say is it really helped out MLS and CONMEBOL state-side.
Fox Soccer Plus has it which is a back channel for a tiny fraction of enthusiasts of the game. They try to promote it but have since ceased. The MLS and Messi sucked the life of their announcement and subsequently no one watches it, or even knows what channel it is on.
Unlike Saudi ,MLS has Produced actual talent btw
Just like China, albeit Saudi Arabia is far more passionate to football than China. But you should be not surprised why Saudi Arabia has never advanced past the group stages of a World Cup since 1994.
Fan of an MLS side, my best friend is a Ghanaian whose a huge supporter of Liverpool that loves to dunk on MLS.
We got into an interesting debate on which league is objectively "better". What metrics, and how weighted those metrics should be when comparing the quality of two leagues.
Is it solely on player contract values? Do things like attendance or stadium quality, quality of life of a country, youth academies; come into play? If so, to what degree.
It is perhaps impossible to come up with an exact formula to make such a comparison, but it was a really fun discussion, this video reminded me of it
Assuming that Ghanaian doesn’t live in Merseyside, it’s a ridiculous discussion.
It’s like a Manchester United fan living in Scunthorpe telling his Scunthorpe-supporting friend that the National League is shit.
If someone’s supporting local, it’s simply not about the quality-and an overseas fan has no legs to stand on against that.
@@scoobyskreep3518 that's how I feel; support your local club. But seems the majority in the US support clubs from cities they've never been to. I'm not gonna judge or gatekeep anyone's Fandom, but I personally don't understand it. I've watched premier league, but never felt connected to any club
@@jonpata9869The problem here (in the U.S.) isn't lacking of football clubs. There's plenty. The problem is the mindset. People sit around hoping MLS opens in their city vs supporting a team already there (USL has teams in many cities MLS would probably not open up in).
@@jldch26 yeah agree with that, I tried to support Charlotte Independence while they were the only club in town, but it took them a while to lock down a stadium, games were empty, and I didn't like the ownership, (very much dislike the ownership of my MLS team). It made it hard to support the independence.
But it's incredible what clubs like San Diego loyal had done, Louisville, cincy when they were usl, sac republic.
I am hopeful usl can start growing sustainably once MLS expansion finally slows down and stops picking off usl successes
@@jonpata9869 I only gave into American football (yes soccer) back in 2018 (back then mostly only paid attention to my father's side) and by then MLS already had a team in my city (New York). If I would have started earlier, probably would have ended up at the Cosmos, and they're basically dead again. Only amateur and semi pro teams in the city left with the Cosmos gone.
We have the same problem in South Africa (when it comes to attendance in the pls) however when it comes to chiefs, pirates and Sundowns then we get quite good attendees
Alfie can you talk about Liga MX please! I want your opinions on any team or narrative
He did a video on the Mexican National Team recently, and analyzed why Mexico underperformes at World Cups.
Most entertained I've been while getting educated. Thanks for the great content.
Asking why no one watching the SPL when the league just got a tv deal and starting to rebuild its leagues with with big name players
Wtf
I think you hit this spot on as an American it’s cheaper for us to watch thePremier league and Champions league via streaming than it is to watch our own MLS so a lot of my friends follow english teams or other European teams more a cheap/free good deal with star players in the long run would generate way more revenue and excitement for the clubs
MLS is $100 for the entire season. I highly doubt what you're witching is cheaper. That's just an excuse
@@AyoJerry Peacock 5.99 a month times a 10 month season 59.99 Paramount Plus heck 10 months again at 5.99 a month 59.99 so 120 bucks you got me but it’s a 20 dollar difference for better games and that’s not out of hate for the MLS I want them to succeed and do well and even find it way more entertaining at times I want very badly for it to be taken more seriously in America my comment was agreeing to his point why watch the Saudi league for the same price as the Premier League or even the MLS
@@kryptecmonklive8327 We pay around $80 a month to watch our English clubs these days!!I'd happily take your $120 rather than the $800 we pay!!
@@AyoJerry And you were proven wrong. An apology would be in order.
I think the main reason why the attendance is super low in the SPL is because some of their matches are around 9pm saudi time on a work day (sun-thu) which makes it difficult for fans such as people who have work or kids who have school to watch these games in person and wake up early the next day for work or school. An example is the Alhilal vs AlAkhdoud match (Which was on a school night at 9pm and only had around 7,000 fans in the stadium) compared to the Alhilal vs Alahli match (which was on a weekend and had a full stadium in attendance). 7,000 fans in attendance might sound a lot for a league like the saudi league but given the fact that Alhilal is one of the top 4 teams with one of the largest fan bases in the league it is quite small. Another reason is probably because only the top 4 clubs have large and new stadiums that can seat up to 20,000- 70,000 fans while the rest of the clubs have relatively smaller fan bases have stadiums that are very small and quite old that probably seat 15,000 fans at most which could be hard to match to the attendance of matches in European leagues.
There is huge upgrades going on at all stadiums currently and a mile of the surrounding areas to stadiums so unless you live within walking distance to a stadium its not worth the hassle as you have to drive to another city and park somewhere then walk further to then get on coaches from the centre to stadium so people enjoy coming home and watching football while eating and having family or friends over
@@user-if3lq4cv9xYea I live in Saudi Arabia and personally i like watching the games with my family from home rather than in a stadium because its not worth the hassle to go to the stadium since its far from where i live. But the fans are amazing and its worth watching a game in the stadium at least once.
Hopefully , thE investment in the meyro and buses can really help in this situation. As a tourist with no car it wasxvery difficult to get to most stadiums by public transport. I understand most Saudis have cars so this isn't a problem...but the traffic jams are horrendous so it would be easy to be late for games. Once the metro and bus system is finished in riyadh next year it should make moving around the city much easier and this should help match attendance! Jeddah needs more investment here. The buses also need to operate later...its stressful trying to catch the last bus at midnight and the drivers sometimes want to go to the depot rather than the destination and never stop the bus for passengers slightly late at rhe bus stop!!😢
Bradford City getting two mentions and two shots of Valley Parade ❤
Love to see it
To be fair, most Asian leagues have low level attendance, not just Saudi league. K-League of South Korea also historically struggled to attract attendance despite South Korea’s powerhouse status. Even with regard to J. League of Japan, there are a lot of empty seats.
This means unless an Asian nation crowned the men’s World Cup title (Japan did so in women’s), they will remain neglected.
Does Japan have a women’s professional soccer league?
It’s easy to fix South Korea’s attendance problems. Have popular K-pop groups attend the games and perform a few songs now and then. All of their fans, who probably don’t care about football, would come just to see their group!
And/or the groups start wearing football jerseys of their favorite (sponsored) team in their music videos and live performances.
If the most popular groups in the world did this, their international fans would come to Korea just to watch football. BTS (guy group) and Blackpink (girl group).
I mean japan has a solid 21k average attendance. That’s better than the Eredivisie and almost on par with Ligue 1. The reason why there is so many empty seats sometimes is either because some teams like Yokohama F. Marinos play in massive 40-80k capacity stadiums or it is because they play on a weekday. If u watch a J league game on a weekend most stadiums are pretty filled up. Also luckily many j league teams are getting dedicated football stadiums with a solid 30k capacity now and in the coming years (check out Sanfrecce Hiroshima’s new stadium 🤗) instead of an Olympic size stadium with an ugly ass running track that is an hour out of the city (which is probably another reason why sometimes attendance figures are low). I don’t know much about other Asian leagues, but I know the K league has similar problems (average attendance for them is 11k).
Also gotta keep in mind that football is still overshadowed by baseball in japan with the Nippon Pro League being the 9th highest sports league in the world in terms of attendance so I’d say the J league is doing pretty well.
Even India has that issue the hype has decreased after the isl. Afc is very key in all this
South Korea powerhouse status? How many south Koreans teams have reached the uefa club world cup final?
Japan is still averaging 19k on average which isn't too bad i'd say
Great Vídeo!!!!
Alfie could you do a video on video on budaspor, a team that went from winning a Turkish super league title , playing liverpool in the champions league and building a 60,000 seater stadium that looked like a giant snake. To semi pro Turkish 4th teir.
in the US, the local high school team gets around the same crowds.
Great video, very very interesting.
Brilliant stuff as always brotherman (y)
short answer from saudi guy:
People don't support the teams closest to their location, they support one of the bigger teams in the country, also some stadiums are awfully designed where it's a pain in the ass to get into the stadium and go out home from it
I feel like no one there has any idea who Henderson and Gerrard are.😅
I love that you banter Henderson in every Saudi video. Get him again!
CLITHEROE FAN HERE! Thank you for the mention
I renew my petition for you to include international subtitles for your videos. I volunteer for Spanish, but just having them would be great for me and my football loving non-English speaking family.
Would be awesome to help expand the channel as well. Hope it works out.
The ticket prices for some of the games are actually insane also. I would not pay more than €100 for a ticket however that is what some clubs are charging
Every video is gold 🤣 thank you as always Alfie
Curiously, here in Brazil we have exactly what you said: online streams of Saudi games on TH-cam and even sometimes on air TV
Thank you so much for this video with its full context regarding politics and human rights. As a Chelsea fan, I’ve been very disappointed to see one of the most prominent Chelsea TH-cam channels do nothing but cheerlead over and over for the new Saudi league, and express outrage and dismissiveness over the very notion that there might be any reason to have the slightest qualms about supporting this new league.
What channel?
@@connoredward354 Younes Talks Football. The man is brilliant when it comes to football, but when he decides to sound off on a social or political topic, it’s often clear that he’s uneducated and doesn’t even suspect what he doesn’t know. I still watch his channel every day though as it’s mostly great stuff.
When people are more interested in what’s goes outside of fútbol than futbol
@@nel186 it’s almost like they go hand in hand. Maybe you should actually watch the video
I have recently started focusing on Asian football , and there is a much needed case for marketing and better strategies as whole . With Saudi being one of the leading leagues it is much needed . Since asian fans are a major viewers in world football.
This needs to be done
Nah man A-League is where it's at in Asia, and the J-League.
@@SilverfoxJB it does but has to start somewhere , the investment needs to be diversified in terms of Scouting, Academies, Stars and marketing
@@Alfie_1 Has to be one of my least favourite leagues unfortunately. Japan , ksa and South Korea is preferred more personally
Although i admit I need to watch more of the leagues all of it , need more time
@@SilverfoxJB the main issue is AfC comps needs to be more popular and strong as well the confederation is weak
You can't market not having history or legitimacy.
Once again, a most impressive report by HITC sevens. Real talent here, wnich is very rare on TH-cam.
One day more people will recognise Alfie’s football journalism
I hardly ever leave comments. Brilliant video. Witty and informative.
Yeah if you think broadcasting games for free is impossible, why don’t you ask the MLS then? Their broadcasting partner Apple practically broadcasted all the matches this weekend for free on the streaming service Apple TV, and all these matches are playoffs, meaning important matches, with no restrictions or blackouts. Also, MLS signed a 10-year deal with Apple reportedly worth 2.5 billion dollars, so around 300 million dollars a year, that’s way more than SPL’s broadcasting deals (and annual revenue) and it also offered free soccer products in the form of 4 to 5 matches/week during regular season. No, Inter Miami matches are not free though, but appropriately the premium service should only come when you cough up some doughs so I don’t complain.
I got my Apple TV and Apple MLS pass plus Paramount plus for La Liga and Serie A matches
@@juanelorriaga2840La Liga is still on ESPN+?
Paramount+ does have a lot to offer (I have it also).
The league just doesn’t have the intrest down the league with historic clubs like the big European teams do. If you are a neutral, you are much more likely to watch Fulham vs Burnley than Al Taawoun vs Abha
Your tongue in cheek wit is sublime mate
In Australia we do have 2 Saudi Pro games screened live on free-to-air app. The issue to follow them though is the timezone. Live games are screened in the middle of the night Australian time.
Hence, don't really care at all.
Something thats actually kind of interesting to this is how games work in Australia, I talking about the AFL and NRL not A league since those teams are to new to compare to traditional Football clubs in Europe. Im thinking about Australia because they have a similar if less pop. to Saudi Arabia and a similar if bigger country.
They have like the most attending league in the world per capita and will attract 100k people to the MSG or Sydney stadium for the grand finals each year, but yet still will have empty ass stadiums sometimes, and on youtube and twitter they barely have any followers and get really low views, and its not like these teams are new, they are 150 years old some of them. Its strange.
It's because more people watch AFL and NRL than are interested in its history, great historical matches and so on. People want to see what is happening and support their team, not watch the art of the game and talk about it online.
@@btf_flotsam478 Yeah but they post highlights and the same kind of stuff that association football teams do, Im only bringing up the history element to highlight that these are tinpot teams, they are institutions of Australia, the main reason football never took off, yet they arent even well followed, whats that about.
I live near the Stadium of the Bremen-Liga champions FC Oberneuland and the Bremen-Liga is a fifth tier league. On a good day, they can gather 5000 people.