Saudi Arabia has secured the right to host significant athletic events, such as the LIV Golf Tour, tennis, and motorsports, aiming to increase tourism, open up business opportunities, and generate revenue from sponsorships, ticket sales, and television rights.

Peter Daire, senior executive advisor for sports at PwC Middle East, emphasised the Kingdom’s long-term goal of using sports as a substantial economic engine.

He said, “According to our Global Sports Survey 2023, the Middle East sports sector, including Saudi Arabia, is expected to generate substantial economic value, with Saudi Arabia’s sports economy predicted to contribute up to $5.9 billion by 2030.”

“This growth is driven by ongoing infrastructure projects and the expansion of world-class facilities across the Kingdom. Additionally, events such as Formula E, the Saudi International Golf Tournament, esports investments, and high-profile football matches in the Saudi Pro League have played a leading role in attracting global attention and investment, further boosting the tourism and hospitality sectors,” Daire added.

Jurg Kronenberg, a management consultant at Bain and Co., pointed out that by 2030, sports are expected to account for 10.5% of Saudi Arabia’s non-oil GDP, generating more than 140,000 jobs.

“Achieving this growth will require both infrastructure investments — such as World Cup stadiums and mass sports facilities — as well as sector activation, through privatisation and professionalisation of sports, new leagues and competitions, and the creation of local intellectual property,” Kronenberg said, while adding, “Sports have a unique potential to be the catalyst for societal and economic change in Saudi Arabia and to support the development of a vibrant economy.”

Kronenberg further stated that the Kingdom aims to create over 140,000 jobs in the sports industry by 2030, contributing to 0.5% of its non-oil GDP.

In order to create a thriving sports business ecosystem, Daire emphasised that the government has prioritised the private sector’s participation.

“Partnerships with European football clubs and players have helped position Saudi Arabia as a central player in the international sports landscape. Additionally, developing local talent within the Kingdom and ensuring a long-term legacy of Saudi sports business expertise are key to the sector’s growth,” he observed.

He pointed out that the integration of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, and digital media, into fan interaction and sports management is driving expansion in several industries.

Mega investments

Kronenberg noted that the 135-kilometre Sports Boulevard in Riyadh and the 11 cutting-edge stadiums planned for the FIFA World Cup 2034 are examples of landmark projects that are part of Saudi Arabia’s sports strategy.

In addition to well-known venues, massive infrastructure projects are being planned to promote mass participation in sports and provide financial incentives for clubs to become professional.

“In football, a bold privatisation initiative is underway, transitioning historically state-owned clubs to private ownership. Beyond football, Saudi Arabia is cultivating a diversified sports ecosystem, investing in the professionalisation of several existing sports and supporting emerging disciplines,” Kronenberg said.

According to Kronenberg, this strategy is accelerating economic diversification by generating valuable intellectual property, new investment opportunities, and new revenue streams.

Federico Pienovi, CEO of Globant for APAC and MENA, emphasised Saudi Arabia’s strategic investment of more than $2 billion in international collaborations, sports infrastructure, and events.

“With major events like the Asian Games and FIFA World Cup 2034 on the horizon, the Saudi government is shaping a multi-billion-dollar sports ecosystem primed for growth,” Pienovi said.

He clarified that Saudi Arabia’s giga-projects, such as Qiddiya Entertainment City, are excellent examples of bringing cutting-edge technology and a passion for sports together, transforming the Kingdom into a top travel destination.

The Saudi Pro League’s international profile has been enhanced by the signing of global stars like Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, drawing sponsors and increasing viewership, according to Shahid Khan, partner and global head of media, entertainment, sports, and culture at Arthur D. Little.

“Developing league infrastructure and operations supports the league’s competitive edge and market value. These investments increase tourism, promote national pride, and inspire local talent to pursue professional football careers. These initiatives further integrate Saudi Arabia into the global football ecosystem, bringing in money from sponsorships and broadcasting,” he said.

The Kingdom is further integrating forward-thinking strategies into its sports vision, as noted by Ivan Shapochkin, a principal at Oliver Wyman’s Dubai office, who highlighted that the global sports industry is predicted to reach nearly $1 trillion by 2030.

“By quadrupling its sports economy by 2030, with private sector contributions driving at least 25%, Saudi Arabia is reaping direct revenues from ticket sales, media rights, sponsorships, and merchandising. Beyond this, sports are invigorating tourism, hospitality, and transport sectors, creating ripple effects across the broader economy,” Shapochkin said.

According to Bain and Co.’s Kronenberg, the sports industry offers a unique opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs to influence the market and outperform others due to its early stages in Saudi Arabia.

“This might include use cases like new ownership models, fan engagement through tokenization, unique voting rights, or new channels and technologies to stream matches,” he said.

A young, tech-savvy population combined with an environment that fosters a “clean slate” approach to technology implementation makes the Kingdom a promising testbed for various new technologies, according to Kronenberg.

Saudi Arabia is embracing digital transformation in sports, integrating blockchain, AI, and virtual reality to enhance athlete performance and the fan experience, according to Daire of PwC.“

According to our latest esports report, ‘Centre of the Game,’ technology is enabling smarter sports management, real-time data analysis for performance improvement, and immersive fan experiences, from virtual stadium tours to personalised content,” he said.

“This transformation is not only improving operational efficiencies within the sports sector but also generating new revenue streams, such as data-driven sponsorships and virtual fan engagement platforms,” Daire added.

Sports-tech on the rise

According to Shapochkin of Oliver Wyman, one in three sports fans worldwide now watches games on digital platforms, indicating a shift toward more individualised, tech-driven interaction.

“The sports-tech market is expected to surpass $40 billion by 2027, driven by innovations like AR/VR (Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality), performance tracking, eSports, and AI-powered analytics. Saudi Arabia, with its youthful, tech-savvy population and strategic investments through entities like SAVVY Gaming Group and PIF (Public Investment Fund), is at the forefront of this shift,” Shapochkin concluded.

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As a business, you want to launch a new product, but at the same point in time are you apprehensive about how the market will react to this? Data analytics will help you to understand the consumers’ mood, when it comes to product preference, thus helping you to fine-tune and tailor your goods and services further. This is the 21st century ‘Informed Decision Making’, aided by technology.

Sports is also something where informed decision-making plays a key role and technology is dominating the proceedings there too. In this article, we will talk about the ‘Global Sports Analytics Market’.

What the numbers suggest

As per the Fact.MR, the global sports analytics market will reach a valuation of $59.47 billion by 2034, expanding at an impressive CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 29% from 2024 onwards.

Sports will become more engaging, competitive, and informed due to the marriage of cutting-edge technology and brilliant human minds. Data-driven insights are increasingly being used by teams and athletes to improve performances and make informed decisions. AI, machine learning, and IoT (Internet of Things) advancements have changed the way sports are evaluated and played.

Fact.MR study found out that while North America accounted for 29.1% of the global sports analytics market share in 2023, Asia-Pacific will become the second most lucrative zone for the industry, with a CAGR of 24.6% till 2034. In fact, sports analytics software accounted for 62.2% revenue share of the global sports analytics market in 2023.

If you are a sports analyst working in a 21st century interactive TV studio, a touch screen LED is your best ally to break down the game’s technical aspects in an engaging way. Audiences’ watching experiences are becoming more fulfilling and informative. They can easily get access to player statistics and their performance measurements, before forming their opinion on the game scenario.

The graphics and visual components in sports broadcasts have become more interactive, helping the viewers to connect with the live event in a more immersive way. From mere spectators, fans have become the jury, taking an informed call on which direction the game is going.

Best case studies

As per Appinventiv, there is an increased demand for AI solutions that can aid player monitoring and tracking, real-time sports data analytics, sports predictions, virtual assistants and chatbots for interacting with fans and sports enthusiasts.

AI-backed data collection and analysis is making the sports industry fiercer on and off the field. Tech-assisted player tracking, performance statistics, and predictive modelling are helping managerial professionals in fields like player workload management, apart from improving strategy and training.

Talent identification and acquisition is a multifaceted process encompassing various aspects such as biomechanics, player performance measurement, and player recruitment. Biomechanics plays a crucial role in assessing athletes’ physical capabilities and movement patterns, helping to identify potential talent.

Player performance measurement involves systematically evaluating players’ skills, abilities, and overall performance to gauge their suitability for recruitment.

The best example of AI in sports analytics is umpire assistance, where match officials use technology to make accurate decisions during matches. We have ball tracking systems in cricket which monitor the movement and trajectory of the ball in real-time. Then in football, we have the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), which aids the match official by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice based on those reviews.

As part of the tactical planning, player injury modelling is a crucial job, followed by the team formation assessment, where the think tank evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of individual players to create a cohesive and balanced unit. Here, AI is helping professionals through predictive modelling, by considering biometrics, external factors, simulating game scenarios and analysing historical data, before forecasting player injuries and suggesting prevention techniques.

Artificial intelligence is even assisting teams in creating game plans by analysing data on opponents’ playing patterns and their current form (including their key players). Appinventiv’s research also found out about tech recommending the best lineup combinations during games and making real-time tactical adjustments.

“Real-time player biometric monitoring is a crucial component. This makes identifying indicators of exhaustion, stress, or harm risk possible. Coaches and medical personnel are notified, which enables prompt interventions and eventually lowers the risk of injury. One popular use of AI in sports is determining the swimmer’s performance below water filters using human pose estimation. This method takes over the ancient quantitative evaluation method by manually annotating the swimmer’s body,” the study noted further.

The report also used the NBA example, where from 2015 to 2018, the professional basketball league reviewed over 25,000 games through the tech and found over 2,000 missed/incorrect actions from the officials. This amounted to 1.49% wrong decisions in the finals of each close game. AI has been deployed now, where referees, armed with probability and visual data, are cutting down the judging errors significantly.

Using machine learning, AI is also suggesting diet plans for players. AI-based fitness apps are flooding the markets further. Some of these tools and techniques are using key point skeleton models to identify human joints for online yoga and pilates.

Meet the inspirational force

Valeriy Lobanovskyi, who is often recognised as the greatest football manager of the Soviet era and then, later, Ukraine, became the manager of the Dynamo Kyiv in 1973 and within a year, guided the team to its first Soviet Top League title. In fact, under his watch, the team won the title for another seven times. In the post-Soviet era, Lobanovskyi is credited with five Ukrainian National League titles from 1997 to 2001.

Lobanovskyi, apart from being a professional footballer during his young days, was also an engineering student. In 1957, the USSR opened the first cybernetic institute in Kyiv and it became a world leader in automated control systems, artificial intelligence, and mathematical modelling. In fact, the early prototype of the modern personal computer was developed in that institute in 1963.

In fact, Lobanovskyi along with statistician Anatoliy Zelentsov, authored the book titled “The Methodological Basis of the Development of Training Models”, which offered a science-based breakdown of the game.

Lobanovskyi pioneered methods like video analysis, field research and tracking players’ fitness levels, to provide a more comprehensive approach towards helping the athletes maintain peak physical condition. He, as a coach, was known for following this approach to ensure that Dynamo Kyiv maintained their peak form across different playing conditions, while maximising the team’s overall flexibility to adapt to the changing game patterns.

Both Zelentsov and Lobanovskyi used to conduct advanced pre-and-post-match analysis with individual player stats and elements of the game recorded. Their strategies are used to even include factors like the exact measurement of the football pitches.

Lobanovskyi’s approach towards the game was method-oriented, bringing variables into the play, while making strategies. He and Zelentsov can be credited as football’s original scientists, who used to collect data in a Kyivian Soviet Laboratory and test their hypotheses out on the field.

These legends were ahead of their time. Their book came out in 2003 and 20 years later, coaches and athletes have made technology their ally, exactly how Zelentsov and Lobanovskyi envisioned.

Gamified training app Actiquest’s latest solution revolves around providing personalised sports coaching through AI digital twins of human mentors. These digital coaches will train athletes remotely, providing live recommendations, allowing real-time interaction, and offering rewards based on training performance.

Sports teams are adding artificial intelligence to the scouting and recruitment aspects too. Machine learning algorithms aggregate data and evaluate players’ skills and overall potential in various game categories, thereby helping the teams to make informed decisions on which new faces they can add to their side.

Be it ticketing, making live predictions or revolutionising sports advertising, the tech-assisted global sports analytics market has gone much beyond its envisioned role of assisting coaches and athletes.

As data-driven insights reshape fan engagement, personalised experiences, and sponsorship strategies, the sports analytics market’s influence is pervasive. From enhancing fan interactions to shaping marketing campaigns, it proves integral to the entire sports ecosystem, signalling a transformative era.

The post Score with AI in sports appeared first on International Finance.

According to Nielsen data, the high volume of viewing overall increased streaming’s proportion of TV to 38.7%, setting a new record. Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and YouTube all reached record highs.

At 20% of TV viewing for the month, total broadcast viewing was down 3.6% overall, setting a record low. The use of broadcasts decreased by 5.4% on a yearly basis, the survey found.

In July, cable viewership declined as well, dropping a full percentage point to 29.6% of all TV viewing.

Less than 50% of all TV viewing today comes through linear TV.

According to the survey, “watching among those under the age of 18 grew 4%, and viewing among individuals 18 and over declined 0.3%, even if overall TV consumption was up just slightly from June (0.2%).”

These developments led to a rise in streaming and “other” consumption, especially because of gaming consoles.

Comparatively, sports on broadcast generated about 25 billion viewing minutes in July in the US, despite airing on numerous channels.

Fall’s arrival will probably bring a change in TV viewing habits, especially with the start of a new NFL season.

For instance, sports accounted for 150 billion viewing minutes on broadcast in November 2022.

According to the research, “Broadcast and cable may face a unique position this fall with the prospect for less fresh original primetime material, but the recent success of purchased programming on streaming channels underscores the outsized strength of exceptional content, regardless of when it was made.”

“Linear TV [is] past the point of no return,” Macquarie analyst Tim Nollen wrote in a note to clients, adding that the revenue line for cable and satellite operators is “probably permanently negative” as pricing fails to drive upside while TV advertising growth stalls.”

“We think the metrics for linear TV are all bad. Ad revenue across our media network coverage fell 13% on average in Q2, down from -8% in 1Q, which included the Super Bowl. We forecast the second half of the year will get slightly better, but to remain negative including an off-political year comparison,” the analyst added further.

The Nielsen report comes amid more consumers dropping their cable packages in a trend known as “cord-cutting” and instead opting for streaming services that are deemed to be traditionally less profitable for media companies.

“Still, streaming is not exactly outperforming either,” Nollen warned, as he stated that subscriber numbers at major direct-to-consumer services (DTC) including Peacock, Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Paramount+, Max and Discovery+ were down by about 500,000 combined.

“Global DTC subscriber growth was 8.5% year-over-year (YoY), slowing to single digits for the first time,” the analyst wrote further, while adding that the growth was aided by Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown, which helped the leading video streamer add 5.9 million subscribers in the second quarter.

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IFM Correspondent

July 25, 2016: Yahoo’s board has agreed to sell the company’s core internet operations and land holdings to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. After the sale, Yahoo shareholders will be left with about $41 billion in investments in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, as well as Yahoo Japan and a small portfolio of patents.

Earlier there was speculation of Verizon being the frontrunner for the beleaguered internet company. Yahoo is expected to sell its email service and news, finance and sports websites in addition to its advertising tools. The company has been under pressure from shareholders who are seeing a downturn of the company’s revenue during the past eight years.

Yahoo’s results for April-June quarter, which were announced on July 18 showed that the company’s revenue fell 19 per cent from 2015, while its loss widened to $440 million.

CEO Marissa Mayer, who was hired four years ago, had earlier told investors the company is carefully evaluating bids for sale.

Mayer is not expected to join Verizon but will get a $55 million severance package if she loses her job after the sale. This was revealed in a regulatory by Yahoo in May this year, which gives details of cash, stock awards and other benefits that Mayer would get should she be forced out as CEO within a year after a sale.

Mayer received a compensation package valued at nearly $36 million last year under the SEC’s accounting rules. Yahoo’s board maintained in its filing that it was only worth about $14 million as of April 1.

The post Verizon to buy Yahoo for $4.8 billion appeared first on International Finance.

IFM Correspondent

September 10, 2015: Try and try till you succeed. Ali Al Khalili swears by the saying and the journey of his life is testament to this.

Having tried his hands in the import and export industry, construction and building industry, camping accessories industry but without much success did not deter him from starting a new business in the sports industry. Only this time, the end result was different.

          Ali Al Khalili 

“I have always had the passion to do something on my own and start a business. I completed my graduation in 2004, and since then have tried several businesses and failed. However, my passion to start a business is stronger than the outcome. Every time I failed, I was motivated even more to start a new business and prove myself,” says Khalili, founder and chief executive, Green Galaxy, a sports goods and accessories trading company that started operations in Oman in 2014. The company was one of the finalists at the Entrepreneurs Conclave 2015 held in Oman in May this year.

It specialises in retail and wholesale supply of sports gear. “As the only authorised representative of Kuwaiti mixed martial arts (MMA) Pro Sport products in Oman, Green Galaxy supplies martial arts sports wear and accessories to Oman’s growing sports sector.”

So, what made him chose the sports industry? “Oman has always had a great culture in sporting activity. At the same time, I wanted to be in a consumer-focused industry. Before Green Galaxy was formed, people had to travel long distances to get quality sports accessories and gear. Hence, I thought of cutting the distance by offering them an option closer home,” he says.

Khalili source his products from Thailand, China and Vietnam. He feels that the sports industry in Oman is one of the high growth sectors and provides plenty of opportunities. However, he says, Oman has a long way to go to become a startup hub. Like most startups around the world, funding is a big problem in Oman as well.

“Getting or arranging funds in Oman is a long procedure. The lengthy bureaucratic process is really not necessary, but is still there. This forces us to look for people who are familiar with the procedures. It is difficult for startups to have that kind of connections. Also, a project is not funded if the entrepreneur is working somewhere else. Often, it is difficult for a startup founder to quit his stable job for something that is high risk and uncertain.”

Khalili hopes to have a bigger shop offering a wider selection by next year.

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