Five leagues in Asia nonetheless draw larger crowds than the Saudi Pro League.
Saudi Arabia’s prime division has thrown itself into the limelight over the previous yr. It stamped its arrival on the worldwide stage by signing Cristiano Ronaldo to Al-Nassr final January, earlier than attracting a complete host of ageing stars akin to Karim Benzema and Neymar due to its provide of profitable wages.
But regardless of many high-profile new additions, the league has come below scrutiny over the previous few months for each its lack of high quality and its lack of a footballing tradition. That is most evident by the low variety of followers current at every recreation.
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READ MORE: Saudi Pro League’s worst ever crowds – together with totally embarrassing 133 attendance
The Saudi Pro League has a mean attendance of simply 8,635 within the present 2023/24 season. Figures from Wikipedia and Worldfootball.web present that to be lower than these introduced in by the Chinese Super League, J-League (Japan), Indian Super League, Okay-League (South Korea) and Persian Gulf Pro League (Iran).
Even Middle East rivals Iran are in a position to usher in 1,600 extra followers per recreation on common regardless of the eye-watering stage of funding into the Saudi Pro League. And followers had been left surprised as they reacted to the attendance figures on social media.
Would you ever attend a Saudi Pro League match? Let us know within the feedback part under
(Image: Getty Images)
(Image: Getty Images)
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One X consumer wrote: “I can’t believe it is real, KSA invested so much in football and it all comes to this?” whereas one other tweeted: “A billion dollar programme failing.”
Others added: “It’s a joke that Ronaldo still plays football in Saudi,” and: “Still can’t have more avg attendance than ISL lmao.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Saudi Arabia does have the impediment of getting a significantly decrease inhabitants than all 5 of the international locations positioned above it. It additionally has extra groups than the opposite leagues, lots of whom are minnows, which can contribute to its decrease common attendance.
The Saudi Pro League’s highest attendance determine of the season belongs to Neymar’s Al-Hilal with 59,600. Its lowest attendance this season is a measly 133, coming in Al-Riyadh’s residence fixture on September 1 – the place they misplaced 1-0 to Al-Okhdood.