What seemed like an impossible scenario a few years ago is now a reality. Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the top two players in the world in recent decades, will be playing outside elite football for the first time as, unable to find a team in Europe, he accepted the multi-million dollar offer from Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr . With the inclusion of the “Bug”, the Saudi Professional League not only gains prestige from the megastar, but also a worldwide presence.
The millions of fans that the Portuguese forward has abroad will follow closely every match between his idol and the Arab team, which is why they often have to make the ‘sacrifice’ of getting up early to watch their matches. In addition to the time difference, the question arises as to which TV station shows the “CR7” duels.
This is exactly what is presented to the fans as the main problem. The First Division of Saudi Arabia only has local transmission through the chain SSC (Saudi Sports Company). There is no legal way for the other countries to watch the competition on TV or stream because its rights are not being marketed to the rest of the world, according to Puntaje Ideal.
The Saudi Arabian League can only be viewed locally. Photo: capturing the ideal score
A possible solution could be for sports networks like ESPN or DirecTV Sports to buy the rights to Al-Nassr, a situation that already occurred a few years ago when Fox Sports covered Carlos Tevez’s matches for Shanghai Shenhua in the Chinese Super League for South America televised.
How much will Cristiano Ronaldo make at Al-Nassr?
His new step in Arab football will make Cristiano Ronaldo by far the highest paid footballer in the world. His €200m per season salary will put him ahead of other ‘monsters’ like Kylian Mbappé (€110m) and Lionel Messi (€65m), both at PSG in France.