When Ben Harburg completed a takeover of Al Kholood in July, it marked a quiet but seismic shift in Saudi football.
He became the first foreign owner of a Saudi Pro League club, an unprecedented step in the kingdom’s bold march towards privatisation.
Unlike Al Hilal or Al Nassr, Al Kholood are not a super club flush with marquee names or a multi-million dollar transfer budget. They are a modest, small-town side from Ar Rass in the Qassim region. They finished ninth last season after being promoted to the top flight in 2024.
Now they must contend in a league that boasts Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Kingsley Coman. It is a David vs Goliath story, precisely the sort of challenge Harburg says he relishes.
“The SPL is the most exciting 'new' league on the planet,” he tells The National. “It’s already fourth in terms of payroll. The infrastructure is surging ahead of the [2034] World Cup. We have stars of the world here.
“I’m even surprised when I see stars that we used to compete against in La Liga sitting in other clubs outside of the big four in Saudi Arabia. So I don’t know what league is more exciting and dynamic.
“We see a lot of flatlining in Europe among the French league, the Italian league. So I think this is the growth story in global football, and it’s a real football fan base.”
Harburg is managing partner of MSA Capital, a global investment firm with more than $2 billion under management.
His ownership of Al Kholood is not an isolated venture but part of a global journey that began far from Qassim.
Born in Colorado, he spent parts of his childhood in southern Spain and Switzerland, an upbringing that gave him a cosmopolitan outlook shaping both his career and his investments.
A Fulbright scholarship took him to Germany, where he studied Islamic sciences and oriental philology, an unusual path for an American investor but one that gave him a cultural fluency he now considers invaluable.
He then joined the Boston Consulting Group in Berlin before being sent to Dubai in 2007 to work on an Islamic banking project.
That early experience working in the Gulf left a lasting impression and helps explain why he views Saudi Arabia’s football revolution not as a risk but as an irresistible opportunity.
His first step into football investment came in 2020, when he became a minority shareholder in Cadiz CF, a provincial Andalusian side with one of the smaller budgets in Spain.
Promotion that summer ended a 14-year exile from La Liga. What followed was nothing short of remarkable.
Within weeks of their return, Cadiz beat Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu – a club whose budget was more than 10 times their own.
Two months later, they stunned Lionel Messi’s Barcelona 2–1 at home. Spanish headlines hailed them as “giant-killers” marvelling at how a team that had been in the third tier only five years earlier were now toppling the elite.
For four consecutive seasons, they defied expectations, even climbing to fifth place in La Liga at one stage before finally succumbing to relegation in May 2024.
Harburg looks back on that run as proof of what can be achieved on limited means.
“We took one of the lowest payrolls in La Liga, and we beat Real Madrid, Barcelona, with Messi on the field. We beat Atletico Madrid, Valencia, etc. So I’m used to being the underdog. I’m used to being the little guy in the fight,” he says.
“But we are really up against it here, and we will be throughout the history of this league, because there’s four more big clubs coming up in the next couple of years. So it’s going to be challenging.”
That perspective framed his comments to The National on the eve of his team facing Al Nassr, the Riyadh powerhouse led by Cristiano Ronaldo.
In a quirk of fate, it was also Al Nassr with whom Cadiz had signed a partnership in 2022. The agreement covered youth development, coach exchanges and the promise of pre-season friendlies.
Harburg's first step into Saudi football was therefore indirect, via Cadiz’s links with Al Nassr. Now the circle has closed, with Harburg’s own club taking the field against them.
The gulf in resources is impossible to ignore, and Harburg does not shy away from it. “It’s a very top-heavy league. We’ve got four big clubs, one of whom we’ll face tonight, whose payroll and even one individual player’s transfer fee was bigger than my entire payroll at Al Kholood. So, we’ve got to find a way to do a lot with a little.”
He sees the club as part of a broader transformation, with football carrying the power to reshape perceptions and drive change in the kingdom.
“I expected maybe there might be a little bit more backlash about investing in Saudi Arabia, but actually it’s been a really easy time, and I think people are starting to realise how exciting this league is and how much impact football can have also on social change and being almost a Trojan horse for social change. So, I’m really excited for the potential that it has in this league.”
Ownership, he argues, is as much political and cultural as financial. “I think it’s a little bit of everything. I mean, I’m actually a geopolitical person by training, and so I love that everything is entwined in football, geopolitics, religion, business, politics. And so, you know, being an owner in a league lets you have a little taste of all of that.
“You get involved in the political conversations, you can represent the country on a grander scale, you can be a force for social change. And then economically, I believe that we are investing in a league that’s going to grow exponentially, and so it should be a good financial investment.”
Asked why Saudi Arabia rather than America or Europe, Halburg's reply is blunt.
“America is overvalued, and the prices are just insane,” he says. “And I don’t think America is a true footballing country. I am still interested in Europe, so I will be doing more acquisitions in Europe.
“I’ve certainly not turned my back on Europe, but Saudi Arabia was a unique opportunity through this privatisation process to take over a club in the first division in a situation that I thought we could create a lot of value by reshaping the infrastructure, the training, the coaching, everything. And that’s what we’re doing in this transaction.”
That transformation is still in its infancy. Al Kholood’s early results have not gone their way, but the players insist patience will pay off.
Argentine goalkeeper Juan Pablo Cozzani admits the squad has barely had any time to gel. “We know everything is very new. Only two or three days ago were all the players together to be able to start this project. I’m very confident.
“It didn’t go our way in the first two matches, but I’m confident that over the course of the season we’ll do very well.”
That belief is echoed by Nigeria defender William Troost-Ekong, who told The National: “It’s really positive. Last year was also great. I think we can’t forget what the last president did for the club. To finish ninth position in the first Saudi Pro League season was a great achievement.
“But this year I see a lot of positive changes. We have a lot of young players coming in, great talents. We need some more time to work together. We’ve only been together now for nine weeks. But yeah, what the club’s ambition is and how they are creating the opportunities for us to improve, I think is great. And if we carry on fighting like this and improving, it’s going to be great.”
For Cozzani, the cultural adjustment has been easier than expected. “Even though our club is from Ar Rass, from the little I’ve seen – I’ve only been here three weeks – people are very kind, very helpful. I didn’t know what to expect, but I’ve been treated really well.
“The club is also there to make sure we don’t lack anything. It’s another culture, so of course it could have been difficult at the start, but I’ve adapted quite well and I’ve met great people, which is very important.”
Harburg’s approach has been personal as well as financial. Not long after the takeover, locals spotted him in a small restaurant in Ar Rass, sharing a meal and listening to fans speak about their hopes for the club.
For a man who manages billions through MSA Capital, with investments in companies such as Uber and Airbnb, those gestures underline a clear intent to root Al Kholood firmly in its community.
That commitment extends to the broader project. Harburg is convinced the Saudi Pro League has the ingredients to become one of the world’s elite competitions.
“It will evolve quite rapidly. I mean, again, our feeling is that we’re on an upwards trajectory in terms of infrastructure,” he adds.
“There will be more privatisations, which I think will lead to more efficiency in the league. And so I expect this league will be almost unrecognisable five years from now and easily be a top-five league in the world.”
His record at Cadiz shows he thrives as the outsider, and Al Kholood offers perhaps an even bigger challenge.
The odds are steep, but so too is the opportunity.
