Saudi Arabia hosting Indian Premier League player auction

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia is set to hot the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction on November 24 and 25, in what is the latest move to make the country the destination for all sporting events.

Saudi Arabia has made itself the destination for boxing, football, and golf, courtesy of hosting mega fights such as Tyson Fury vs Oleksander Usyk, signing talent such as Cristiano Ronaldo to local teams, and creating the LIV Golf Tour, all in an effort to improve their image on the international stage.

Their latest attempt to do so involves hosting the IPL player auction. The foray showcases Saudi Arabia’s “commitment to developing the sport and showcasing its position as a global destination for sporting events,” said Prince Saud bin Mishal, the chairman of the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation (SACF).

The move will appeal to the 40 per cent of the 13 million non-Saudi national population, who came to the country from South Asian countries like Pakistan and India.

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The IPL is immensely popular, as it introduced a franchise style league to cricket, something that the sport had never seen before. In 2023, the league was valued at nearly $11 billion. The Economic Times reported that through 67 matches in the 2024 season, the IPL’s official broadcaster Star Sports received a viewership of 546 million. Streaming platform JioCinema, owned by Viacom18, also streamed the IPL, and brought in around 620 million viewers.

Saudi Arabia is looking to bring in a fraction of those eyes for the auction as fans will tune in to see which teams receive which top stars.

However, the country’s venture into the cricket world won’t end with the IPL player auction, nor did it begin with it. Earlier this year, the SACF began a Schools Cricket program, which included a summer camp where over 100 children took part.

Arab News reported in August that the SACF head coach Kabir Khan stated that they “have been working closely with all the international embassy schools — like those of Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — for the past three years. And now we are targeting Saudi boys and girls.”

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