‘Strong clubs build strong league’: SPL outlines sustainable growth vision at LEAP 2026

The Saudi Pro League (SPL) has outlined how stronger governance, financial sustainability and club development are helping lay the foundations for the next phase of Saudi football’s growth.

Speaking at LEAP 2026 in Riyadh, Jesus Arroyo, Advisor to SPL Chief Executive Officer Omar Mugharbel, said the league’s continued transformation is increasingly focused on creating the structures required to support sustainable, long-term growth across the competition.

Arroyo was participating in a panel entitled, “The Future of Global Football Governance,” which explored the continued evolution of the Kingdom’s football industry and the role of governance and private investment in supporting its future development.

“Ambition and speed are important, but they have to be matched by control,” Arroyo said. “We want to build success that can be repeated and sustained, and that means creating a strong governance framework that gives our clubs and potential investors stability and confidence.”

Arroyo highlighted the SPL Club Handbook and Financial Regulations as two examples of the league putting those principles into practice.

The Club Handbook establishes minimum standards for clubs across areas including match operations, helping ensure consistency in the product delivered to supporters across the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, the SPL’s Financial Regulations, introduced last year, are designed to support clubs in moving progressively towards greater financial sustainability.

“Our objective is to deliver the same high standard of SPL experience wherever a match is played in the Kingdom,” Arroyo said. “Consistency is fundamental to building a strong product for supporters, broadcasters, commercial partners and investors.”

Central to that long-term strategy is the continued development of clubs across the competition.

“It’s impossible to have a strong league if we don’t have strong clubs,” he said. “That means developing the entire league, not only the biggest clubs. We need clubs across the competition to build the capabilities required for the next level.”

The SPL’s dedicated Club Development Unit works alongside clubs across a range of organisational and commercial areas, part of a wider drive to support their continued transformation.

“If we focus only on results on the pitch, we are focusing only on the short term,” Arroyo said. “Sustainable success requires strong clubs off the pitch as well as on it.

“Sporting performance will always be fundamental, but clubs also need to develop their commercial capabilities, understand their audiences and create greater value from their brands, their content and their engagement with fans.”

That evolution is increasingly important as Saudi football attracts audiences far beyond the Kingdom.

“Our clubs need to think not only about the supporters attending their stadiums, but also about the people engaging with them digitally and internationally,” Arroyo said. “Our ambition is to build a truly global product.”

Arroyo also highlighted the relationship between strong governance and the Kingdom’s ambitions to attract greater private investment into football.

While the club privatisation programme is led by the Ministry of Sport, the SPL plays an important role in establishing a consistent regulatory environment and supporting clubs in preparing for future investment.

The league also engages with potential investors where required to provide greater understanding of its regulatory framework, including its Financial Regulations and Club Handbook.

“Any investor needs stability,” Arroyo said. “A clear regulatory framework gives investors confidence that they understand the environment they are entering, how clubs operate and the parameters within which they can invest and grow.

“For long-term investment, stability is essential. Strong governance and clearly understood financial regulations are fundamental to creating the conditions for sustainable investment.”

The panel formed part of LEAP 2026 in Riyadh and brought together leading voices to discuss the continued transformation of Saudi Arabia’s football ecosystem and the governance, ownership and investment structures required to support its long-term growth.