After coming to Al-Nassr, Ronaldo has scored 14 goals/16 appearances. Despite their efforts, CR7 could not help Al-Nassr overcome Al-Ittihad to be crowned Saudi Pro League (SPL) last season. However, the disappointment of not winning the championship may not affect the 38-year-old superstar for too long. He is receiving a salary of up to 200 million Euros/year with the vision of turning SPL into the world's leading championship.
"I think if everyone continues to take this plan seriously, within the next 5 years, the Saudi Pro League can become a tournament in the top 5 national championships in the world. SPL is currently doing very well but there are still many things to improve in the near future" - Ronaldo shared in June 2023.
SPL's homepage said that they want to enter the Top 10 leading tournaments in the world in terms of technology, trade, finance and media. Currently, the Top 5 position still belongs to familiar names in Europe: Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue-1.
In January 2023, Twenty First Group ranked SPL as a tournament in the 58th world. After the AFC Champions League ended last season, this number was 54 because SPL had a representative in the final match, Al-Hilal, along with 2 clubs in the round of 16. Currently, there is no further rating for SPL in the context of the appearance of a series of names from Europe such as Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante, ...
SPL's current CEO is Saad Al-Lazeez, who previously held a similar position at Manchester City. He is one of the members of the SPL Board of Directors, alongside Abdulaziz Al Afaleq, Carlo Nohra and a few others. This group admits that making SPL the world's top tournament is not possible in the near future. They are receiving financial support to implement this plan for the next 5-7 years. It is also understood as the final time to assess whether this plan is a success or not.
There is a problem facing Saudi Arabia, which is the problem of infrastructure. When Ronaldo arrived at Al-Nassr, the team's home stadium could only accommodate about 25,000 seats, too small compared to the stature of CR7. When a series of other stars were arriving, the outdoor system could not be completed immediately. Between upgrading the facility and buying stars, Saudi Arabia has chosen to buy stars first.
Meanwhile, in the communication stage, SPL has assigned IMG company the responsibility, first of all, the agreement with partners on television copyright. IMG has been in contact with SPL since the beginning of 2023, right when Ronaldo first arrived at Al-Nassr. They have negotiated television rights with partners in the UK, Türkiye, Brazil, China, ... all of about 45 countries, instead of only selling in the Middle East and North Africa before. As for the domestic market, SPL's copyright was acquired by SSC in 3 seasons, until 2025, and is about 10 times more expensive than before.
Saudi Arabian football officials understand that with stars with more than half a billion followers on social media like Ronaldo, if CR7 posts information and images about SPL on their personal pages, the tournament will reach some giants. Stars with hundreds of millions of followers like Benzema will create an incomparablely strong media channel for SPL in the coming time.
Another very sustainable plan is also implemented in parallel, which is to improve the level of domestic young players. The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sports believes that once the young players are mentally motivated after the appearance of world stars, they will rise. At that time, Saudi Arabian football will have more talent, approaching the level of European stars at clubs. This country will have a pyramid in terms of player personnel, serving the national team well in the selection process.
Finally, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has acquired the 4th club in the SPL, along with Premier League Newcastle. They want to create an ecosystem to be able to send players to Europe, thereby developing skills and class, then human resources to add quality to the national team.
