Football continues to grow globally

Football, the most popular sport in the world, continues to grow  year on year at an astounding pace.

Nobody disputes the fact that the appeal and popularity of football is unprecedented,overwhelming,mind boggling and unrivaled. 

The interest in football around the world has never been greater.No wonder,it's fandom which is around 4 billion makes it the biggest sport in the world .

The love,passion, emotion,enthusiasm and craze for football in fans run deep, and  it  is ingrained in their everyday life and culture.

For many, football  is  more than just a sport and pastime.They see it as a kind of  universal religion,binding people of different races, cultures, faiths and backgrounds .

Furthermore, football has become a global  phenomenon and transformed into a multi-billion dollar industry.The socio-economic impact of football is humongous.

The recently concluded Women’s World Cup football tournament held in Australia and New Zealand raked in  an impressive over  $570 million(the biggest ever) in revenue for the World Football body.

Leading up to the 2022  Men’s World Cup  in Qatar, FIFA  generated a  staggering record breaking $7.5 billion, $1billion more than the 2018 World  Cup in Russia through commercial deals.

Besides,prestigious tournaments held in different continents like Copa Del Rey( Spain),Football Association Cup(England),Africa Cup of nations (Africa),UEFA Europa League(Europe), Copa Libertadores(South American club tournament),Copa America( South America),UEFA Champions League( Europe) and AFC(Asia) is a testament to the global reach of football.

Further, elite European leagues like the English Premier League,Bundesliga, Italian  Serie A, Spanish La Liga,French Ligue, Portuguese Primeira Liga  and  many more where the  world’s best talents play  are watched  around the world and generate revenues in astronomical  figures every year.  

More importantly,the leagues have significantly contributed to the rapid growth and popularity of professional football.

Today every football playing nation has its own  semi-professional league or professional  league studded with foreign recruits.

Also a  large chunk of money has been invested into the development of infrastructures and facilities,the backbone  of  football development in the long run.

Come weekends, fans are in front of their television screens to watch and root for their favorite teams playing in different leagues in the world.

Apart from television viewers,football  goers  who watch matches in person pack stadiums, week in,week out.

 

The planet’s biggest sporting spectacle, the men’s World Cup transcends sports bringing people across the world under one roof.Fans wherever they are create a frenzy carnival and festival-like atmosphere  in their own ways.

Every major  international tournament, be it the Women’s World Cup or the  European Cup or the UEFA League draws huge  television viewership.

The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France drew a record breaking 16,783,000  TV viewers. 

Given the  unprecedented popularity of football in the world, it is no surprise that people of all  ages are emotionally attached to the sport. 

Chasing  fame and fortune, young boys and girls everywhere dream of becoming  successful professional footballers.

It is one  sport that is played  in every nook and corner of the world by both sexes.

Football legend  Pele  who  came  out  of  retirement to   play  for New York Cosmos  in the  North American Soccer League  in  1975 put American soccer on the international  map. 

Pele’s move to the United States prompted other legends Franz Beckenbauer,Johan  Cruff and Carlos  Alberto to follow him.

It paved  the way for the US  to get the hosting  rights for  the 1994 World Cup  and laid down groundwork for the Major League  Soccer(MLS).

Superstar Lionel Messi’s  move to  Inter Miami in Florida co-owned by  former  English  international footballer  David Bekcham is bound to boost the profile of MLS and raise the popularity of football in the US further.

Unquestionably, the rest of the world has a   long way to go to catch up European leagues  in terms of standards,popularity and financial success.

 

Everyone agrees that the  grand success of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar  established football’s  status as the number one sport in the world.

 

Since then we have witnessed a significant development in the football landscape of the gulf  states with Saudi Arabian football clubs leading the charge and  making their global ambitions very clear. 

The football world was taken by complete surprise following Saudi Professional League(SPL) club Al Nassr signing Cristiano Ronaldo,one of the most decorated names in modern  football on a  2 and half-year contract worth  more than  $ 200 million a year,making him the most expensive player on the planet.

Already Ronaldo’s signing has triggered ripple effects.Prior to this, the   sporting world knew very  little about SPL. In fact, it was like an uncharted  territory.

As  things stand now,SPL has undergone a dramatic transformation capturing the attention of sports enthusiasts across the world.

Al-Nassr has been the biggest beneficiary. Its name,recognition  and value have gone through the roof. What a  world of difference  a player of  Ronaldo stature does,the most followed  person on Instagram,with 600 million followers.

Since the Portuguese superstar joined the club,its Instagram followers count has jumped  to 15 million from an estimated 860,000 and merchandise has gone global.

SPL popularity has skyrocketed and is being broadcasted worldwide in 140 countries including the USA.Additionally, the league revenue has increased by  an insane 650 percent.

Ronaldo’s move to the oil rich country has opened  the floodgates. In no time other big  names  like Neymar Jr,Otavio,Aymeric, Laporte,Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane,N’Golo Kante,Riyad Mahrez,Roberto Firmino, Fabhino, Jordan Henderson  and many more have followed suit.

 

We are bound to see more  players   make a move from European and other  leagues to SPL in the future.

 

With the sole intent to  boost and transform the league into one of the elite leagues in the world and take domestic football standards to new heights,the Public Investment Fund,a government(Saufi Arabia)  entity that owns  all four clubs-Al- Nassr, Al- Ittihad, Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli entered the highly lucrative European transfer market. In the process they have  been heavily investing in top notch players of the world .

Obviously, if things go as planned Saudi Arabia’s domestic  football will immensely benefit from SPL.

It is  hoped that Saudi’s revolutionary foray into the highly lucrative international   football transfer market  prompts other leagues across Asia to do the same..

The presence of internationally  renowned players in SPL is an important breakthrough and a big gain for  Asian club competitions.

The  acquisition of Manchester City(UAE) and Paris Saint-Germain(Qatar)) and NewCastle United(Saudi Arabia) by the Gulf states speaks volumes of their intentions to influence global football.

Also they  may have the ownership of Manchester United and Liverpool  in the not too distant future.

Prior to SPL, in 2016 a similar scenario unfolded in the Chinese Super League (CSL). 

Encouraged by the Chinese  government’s vision of  becoming a global power  in football  by 2050  CSL teams  stormed the  international football transfer market much to everyone’s surprise.

The move  made CSL the biggest  and hottest destination  for footballers outside the European leagues. 

The majority of  clubs  owned by property developers  went on a head spinning spending  spree amounting to  around $ 1 billion  on foreign  stars  in the likes of Oscar,Ramires,Hulk, Paulinho,Didier Drogba, Jackson Martinez,Carlos Tevez,Nicolas Anelja and many more.

Some of the sharpest minds in coaching like Luize Felipe Scolari, Marcello Lippi and Fabio Capello were roped in as well.

However, hit  by government regulatory measures, economic slowdown triggered by COVID pandemic and corruption within the Chinese Football  Association,CSL failed to serve the purpose and ultimately fell flat.

The Saudis must not let that happen to SPL. They can learn from CSL bust and avoid similar mistakes for SPL’s sustainability  and success.