How Newcastle United could conquer the Middle East market to leave rivals trailing

The Newcastle United link to Saudi Arabia has been long established, and not without its controversy. Having seen a takeover bid by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) drag on owing to concerns about links to the Saudi government, the deal was finally approved by the Premier League back in October 2021.

The ownership of the club by the PIF saw the Magpies have to face plenty of flak from rival fans, and deal with such things as rule changes brought in following the takeover as clubs grew concerned at Newcastle’s ability to potentially tap into the simpatico business relationships that the PIF had in the Gulf region.

But Newcastle have taken a slow and steady approach to growth, while adding a sprinkling of star power in the likes of Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali. Their hopes of accelerating that growth have been hamstrung by the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR).

Growing organically and with the confines of PSR has been the challenge for some time, and will continue to be so. The club has managed to leverage their pull in the Middle East with commercial deals being secured with brands in the region such as Sela, Noon and Saudia, but are they just scratching the surface when it comes to making inroads in terms of the fandom that they could have in the region?

This summer sees a whole host of Premier League sides head to the United States as part of their pre-season plans, with the World Cup in North America just a year out and the FIFA Club World Cup taking place in the US this June and July.

But while many clubs chase the opportunity that is perceived to be in the US, where football is on a rise and more opportunities to generate new fans are seen, Newcastle’s connection to Saudi is likely to be a thread that the club continues to pull to grow the brand, having already visited the region previously.

But how might they make those inroads given the differences that exist in football fandom in the regions?

“Our data shows that there's about anywhere between 35 and 40 million people that watch the Premier League regularly in that market,” said Neil Joyce, CEO of CLV Group, a company that connects football clubs with global fans.

“That is not too dissimilar to what the size of the UK football fandom looks like as well, so that opportunity exists there. However, at the moment, it is more player-first rather than following actual clubs.

“It's slightly more, I wouldn't say muddied, but it's definitely harder for Newcastle in some ways because of the way that the Saudi Pro League teams are trying to establish themselves with the likes of Ronaldo, who still has enormous appeal, more than the clubs do.

“I think what Newcastle need to do is to keep investing in going to the market, being visible in the market and making investments into younger kids of sporting ages. They should start to look at some of the strategic programs that are going on in Saudi around the 2030 vision (a government program launched by Saudi Arabia which aims to achieve the goal of increased diversification economically, socially, and culturally, in line with the vision of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman).

“It should be just about sport, it's about health, nutrition and wellbeing. It’s about being ubiquitous in the market, and that would be their differentiation point to go and win a lot more of that marketplace.

“But again winning the Carabao Cup is going to help drive that awareness and branding even further as well. People will want to know more about Newcastle, they are kind of like a sleeping giant that has now been awakened. They've got some phenomenal footballers in that squad as well, and keeping world-class stars like Alexander Isak will be important.”

For football, Saudi, like the US, is likely to be central to a changing landscape in the game in the coming years, with the Saudi Pro League growing and places such as Riyadh and New York tipped to eventually host showpiece games like the Champions League final.

But what about the Carabao Cup in Saudi, or something similar? And how might Newcastle better align themselves with brands in the region?

“I think it's visibility and then it's aligning itself with other brands about programs around health, wellness, nutrition,” said Joyce. “So, how do they put programs in place for younger kids, or how do they provide sports facilities that get communities together, how do they create that?

“It's got to be from grass roots all the way up, through education and those kinds of services and programs that they should be invested in doing along with being visible.

“I think they go there now pretty much every time that there's an international break and there's a certain level of squad, they go to training and that's one way, but I think the ability for them to be playing games will probably increase.

“I think that the challenge of all of this is the same as with the US; how do you get a competitive game there?

“Could it be the Carabao Cup, maybe the first round of it next year with Newcastle defending? Who knows? Maybe that kind of thing happens in time, but Newcastle will be well positioned to lead in that market, and that could be very lucrative for them.”