Check out our full Saudi Pro League season guide here
The Saudi Pro League (SPL) has secured deals across a range of international networks to broadcast live the 2023/24 season in more than 130 countries and territories, it was announced on Wednesday night.
The agreements include a landmark deal with DAZN in multiple territories (Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and the UK) as well as major European broadcasters Canal+ (France), Sport TV (Portugal), La 7 (Italy), Marca.com (Spain) and Cosmote (Greece), among others.
As part of the agreements, select SPL matches from across the 34 rounds of fixtures will be available exclusively to international partner broadcasters, with viewers initially able to access three marquee fixtures per week for the 2023/24 season.
Starting with the opening round of matches on the weekend of August 11-14, the action will be accessible through partner TV networks as well as online streaming services, OTT platforms, Android and iOS applications.
The broadcast deals will build on a record-breaking 2022/23 season which saw more spectators on match days, more followers and greater global viewing figures than ever before, with action aired on 48 platforms and TV broadcasters in over 170 countries worldwide, and commentary in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Indian, Chinese, Thai and Japanese.
“These agreements come at a time of genuine growth for Saudi Arabian football, with growing interest in the Roshn Saudi league from football fans all around the world," said Saad Allazeez, the Saudi Pro League interim CEO.
"The watching world can now enjoy front row seats as Saudi football transforms, and thanks to the Saudi Pro League strategy, football fans around the world will be able to watch promising young talent from the Kingdom competing and playing with some of the biggest names in world football.”
Completed Saudi Pro League transfers
The deals were negotiated by IMG, following the extension of its exclusive agreement with SPL to manage the distribution of international broadcast rights for the Saudi Pro League for the next two seasons. IMG will also produce the live world feed, including graphics and English commentary.
Football fans from the Mena region as well as those in Chad, Djibouti, Mauritania, Somalia, and Sudan, all within the reach of Arabsat satellite, can continue to follow the Roshn Saudi League action on their regular channels. SSC retains the linear TV rights and the digital rights through Shahid, ensuring uninterrupted coverage across these territories.
The full list of broadcast deals secured for the 2023/24 Saudi Pro League include: A1 Bulgaria / Max Sport (Bulgaria), Azam (East Africa), Azteca (Central America & Mexico), Band Group (Brazil), Bilibili (China), Canal+ (France & French overseas territories), Cosmote (Greece), DAZN (UK, Germany, Austria, Canada, Belgium), GOAT (Brazil), Kball (China), La 7 (Italy), Marca.com (Spain), Migu (China), Network Ten (Australia), Prima Sports (Romania), Setanta (Commonwealth of Independent States, Baltics & Ukraine), Sony/culver (Indian Sub-continent), SPO TV (South East Asia, Korea & Japan), Sport TV (Portugal), Sporty TV (Nigeria & Ghana), StartTimes (Sub-Saharan Africa incl. South Africa), Supersport (Albania & Kosovo), Tencent (China), ZAP (Angola & Mozambique), Zhibo8 (China)
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
Brief scores:
Manchester United 4
Young 13', Mata 28', Lukaku 42', Rashford 82'
Fulham 1
Kamara 67' (pen),
Red card: Anguissa (68')
Man of the match: Juan Mata (Man Utd)
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
