1) What’s the most important building in world sport?
It’s the kind of question you probably only ask yourself in terminal 3 of Riyadh airport and while Fifa HQ in Zurich, the NFL’s base on Park Avenue in New York, and the IOC’s swanky new pad down in Lausanne would be solid candidates, I’d suggest there’s none more influential right now than PIF Tower, the centrepiece of Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District. The 80-storey, HOK and Omrania & Associates-designed edifice is the largest skyscraper in the city, basecamp for the approximately 3,000 PIF workforce, and where many of the most influential decisions about how sport will be structured and funded moving forwards are taking place. I got as far as floor 52 so feel confident enough to vouch for HOK’s description of its design, in that ‘abundant daylight, clear sightlines and efficient layouts foster collaboration and clarity.’ Meanwhile, talking of the airport, a sweep of operational changes to boost capacity in Riyadh have been announced in the past few days (and there’s a whole new Foster + Partner-designed airport, King Salman International, being planned for 2030 to the north of the city with capability for handling over 120 million passengers a year). Chuck in much excitement about the Riyadh metro setting a Guinness World Record as the longest driverless train network in the world, and, apart from anything else, the city has the feel of a Fifa bid book coming to life.
2) What’s on the billboards around Riyadh at the moment?
It’s nine years until global football embarks on its big Saudi adventure, a period during which construction of stadiums and infrastructure will accelerate rapidly. It’s a bit early for branding, too, but it was nonetheless striking that another substantial event, six years away, dominates signage on the road into town from the airport. Expo 2030 Riyadh is another vast building project – the Expo site to the north of the city will ultimately cover around 6 million square metres and include over 230 pavilions. Over 42 million visits are expected over a six-month period. PIF, naturally, is involved: it has created the Expo 2030 Riyadh Company to handle planning, development and delivery, all with the aim of adding $5.6 billion to Saudi Arabia’s GDP and deliver up to 250,000 jobs before and during the Expo. And just this week it has appointed Buro Happold as lead design consultant on a project for which the Saudi government has allocated some $7.8 billion. World Expos, staged once every five years (Osaka’s efforts this year received decidedly mixed reviews) don’t tend to receive the piercing, shining media spotlight of a World Cup or an Olympics but they without doubt fall into a very select group of true global mega-events.
3) How can I watch the game in Spain?
Felicidades to the team at LaLiga who have teased €6.135 billion in domestic broadcast rights revenue out of the media market in Spain, for the period between the 2027/28 and 2031/32 seasons. That works out at a 9% increase (over $500 million) on the current cycle, with DAZN and Telefonica’s live rights package supplemented by striking increases in rights fees for commercial premises (up €150 million to nearly €650 million) and a 40% increase in second division live rights, up from €125 million to €175 million. If the Premier League is away and clear as number one and the Uefa/Relevent alliance hoovering up significant sums in recent weeks for the Champions League in all the key European territories (Telefonica also put down around €1.46 billion in that auction for four seasons of European games in Spain), LaLiga would appear to have diligently solidified its status as Europe’s number two domestic football market.
4) Should the NFL be worried?
Not in the slightest, but it is certainly noteworthy that Mexico’s American football league, La Liga de Futbol Americano, has just received a $100 million investment from Global Sports Capital Partners, a new private equity fund founded by Michael MacDougall. And that over the Atlantic, the European League of Football, backed by David Gandler’s Goal Line Sports, Oakvale Ventures and Dubai-based 885 Capital Limited, and the European Football Alliance have confirmed a reunified structure for American football in Europe from 2026.
5) What doesn’t get enough credit?
Solid, consistent, high-level sponsorships that stand the test of time, feel part of the industry fabric and are almost mundane in their quiet excellence and quest for continual reinvention, that’s what. On which note, a salute to all the folks involved in recent long-term renewals between DP World and the European Tour (signed up to 2035); Paddy Power and the Professional Darts Corporation (now title sponsor of the World Championships until 2031); and Emirates and World Rugby (also to 2035).
