Soccer fans in America and the UK CAN’T watch Cristiano Ronaldo play for Al-Nassr after his $212m move to Saudi Arabia… because as it stands, there isn’t a television deal in place for the Saudi Pro-League!
One of the world’s most popular athletes has officially moved to play in Saudi Arabia – but American and British fans won’t be able to watch him.
It was announced on Friday that Cristiano Ronaldo would move to Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr after the striker was released from Manchester United in November.
With that deal signed, and Ronaldo entering a new phase of his career, comes a new challenge. But it also means he enters a new league – one fan in the United States and the United Kingdom will not be able to watch
Cristiano Ronaldo has officially moved to play in Saudi Arabia for Pro League club Al-Nassr
Fans of Cristiano Ronaldo currently do not have a way of watching him play for Al-Nassr
As of the time of publishing, the Saudi Pro League does not have a streaming or syndication deal with any network in the United States. In addition, Saudi Arabia’s two cup competitions – the King Cup and the Saudi Super Cup do not have broadcast deals.
Most of the rights to the national leagues in the Asian Football Confederation in the United States have been broken up between YouTube, OneFootball, and ElevenSports.
There, the rights to the two intercontinental championships: the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup are currently held by CBS Sports. Due to their tenth place finish in the 16 team SPL, Al-Nassr are in neither of these competitions.
Things are bleaker in the United Kingdom – who only have the AFCCL rights to broadcast on OneFootball. Highlights can be shown on EuroSport, but live matches are currently not offered.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia was confirmed on Friday afternoon by the club
That means that currently, fans need to hope Al-Nassr finish the season in first or second to automatically qualify for the AFC Champions League or in third for the AFCCL qualification round in order to watch Ronaldo play next season.
It’s unclear if interest in the league will spike now with Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival enough that an American television network will try and get the rights to the league.
However, there are some examples of US networks quickly putting together deals to carry professional sports. Notably, during the pandemic, ESPN got the rights to broadcast the Korean Baseball Organization on May 4, 2020 – just one day before the season opener.
Currently, Al-Nassr are second in the league with 23 points to their name – sitting just behind leaders Al-Shabab.
Al-Nassr is one of the most successful clubs in Saudi, having won the Saudi league nine times
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