Saudi pro league humiliating problem
The Saudi Pro League has been hit by a number of issues since it started in 2015 and even the likes of former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is
struggling to bring in new fans
Despite the Saudi Pro League signing some of the world's biggest football stars, it seems they're still struggling to attract fans to their matches.
Even with former Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo joining Al-Nassr in January, followed by a summer spending spree of over £750million on
players like C, Riyad Mahrez, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, stadiums across Saudi Arabia are seeing low attendances. For instance, only 696 spectators
watched Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq lose 1-0 at Al-Riyadh last weekend.
Similarly, less than 800 fans attended matches between Al-Akhdoud and Al-Feiha, and Al-Hazm and Al-Raed. The highest attendance was at King Abdullah
Sports City where Al-Ahli played Al-Wehda in front of 16,919 supporters, just slightly more than the 16,875 who saw Ronaldo score for Al-Nassr against Damac
FC.
The match between Bradford City and Wrexham in England's fourth tier had more spectators (21,552) than any Saudi Pro League game over the weekend.
Two games in League One saw over 17,000 fans, and nine Championship fixtures had more supporters, including 28,449 at Middlesbrough's win over
Birmingham.
The average attendances for the Saudi Pro League aren't much better. Al-Ittihad, who have stars like N'Golo Kante, Fabinho and Karim Benzema, have the
highest average crowd in the league, with 29,044 fans.
The other three of the 'big-four' state-backed teams are next on the list, with Al-Hilal second on 22,381 and Al-Nassr (20,615) and Al-Ahli (19,296) third and
fourth. However, they are the only four clubs to average more than 10,000 fans this season.
All other teams, including Gerrard and Henderson's Al-Ettifaq, have less than 10,000. Despite playing in a 35,000 capacity stadium, Al-Ettifaq's average
attendance is 7,021 - less than English fifth-tier side Chesterfield.
The lowest average attendance across the 18 Saudi Pro League teams is at minnows Abha (1,988). Al-Riyadh don't get many more through the turnstiles at
2,139, while Al-Fayha (2,860) complete the bottom three.
n contrast, Bury, who play in the ninth tier of English football, currently average 3,336 supporters per match. The highest number of fans at a match was
59,600, who watched Al-Hilal draw 1-1 against Al-Fayha in their first home game.
Incredibly, only 133 people went to see Al-Okhdood beat Al-Riyadh 1-0 in early September. Simply put, if there are no global superstars playing, crowds don't
want to show up, and even when there are, interest varies.
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