Saudi Pro League clubs may be flush with cash, but one thing they can't buy is matchgoing fans, it seems. A mere 390 spectators turned up to watch Al Fayha vs Al Riyadh on Sunday - a match that boasted stars such as Renzo Lopez, Gojko Cimirot, Mohammed Al Baqawi and Chris Smalling.
It was officially the lowest attendance of the 2024/25 season so far. Saudi Pro League pin-ups like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante weren't there, but it's still a humiliating turnout for a league aiming to become one of the world's premier football divisions.
There's some distance to go before numbers fall below last season's low point of a 117-capacity crowd. However, considering the lowest attendance during the 2019/20 season - when Bafetimbi Gomis was the league's biggest draw - was 581, it's safe to say the Saudi Pro League has a few issues to address.
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According to Transfermarkt, over three-quarters of Saudi Pro League clubs have average attendance figures of under 10,000 this season. Even Ronaldo's Al-Nassr side are struggling to consistently draw large crowds, while more than half of the clubs averaged under 5,000 last season.
Saudi clubs have collectively splashed out over £2billion on players in the past two years. This summer saw Ivan Toney, Joao Cancelo, Moussa Diaby and Kurt Zouma all making headline-grabbing moves to the Gulf state, joining a host of top-tier talent who followed Ronaldo after his trailblazing transfer to Al-Nassr in 2022.
While traditionally targeting players in the latter stages of their careers, a handful of younger stars such as Allan Saint-Maximin and Steven Bergwijn have recently been enticed to Saudi Arabia.
High-profile managers including Steven Gerrard, Laurent Blanc and Jorge Jesus have also made the leap, and it's understood the league still has plans in the pipeline to lure big names like Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho to make the move in 2025.
