[SPOTVNEWS=Reporter Seongpil Lee] An opportunity to easily watch the Saudi Arabian Professional League (SPL), which is gathering soccer stars from all over the world, is now available in Korea. It is an opportunity for Korea to take a better look at the huge investment in Middle Eastern football.
Sports broadcasting channel Spotivi announced on the 28th that Korea's only sports OTT Spotv Now (SPOTV NOW) will broadcast the 2023-24 season Saudi Professional League starting in August. It is also available on premium sports TV channels SPOTV ON and SPOTV Prime.
The SPL is one of the top five Asian leagues (Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Iran) for 2023 selected by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). In the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL), Al-Hilal and Al-Itahad reigned as strong players. Al-Hilal won the tournament in 2019 and 2021.
It is unique enough that nine of the main players of the Saudi national soccer team, which made history by defeating Argentina at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, belonged to Al-Hilal. Although the SPL championship in the 2022-23 season was given to Al Ittihad, a traditional powerhouse, there is no change in the fact that it is a powerhouse that has reached the top in 5 of the last 10 seasons.
As Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nasr) left Manchester United and stepped on the land of martyrdom last season with 'oil money' at the forefront, his status is rising further. With Ronaldo at the fore, he recently competed against Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan on a pre-season tour in Japan.
Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante, Jota (both Al Ittihad), Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, Ruben Neves (both Al Hilal), Alex Telles and Marcelo Brozovic (both Al Ittihad) are on the list this summer. Al Nasr), Jordan Henderson, and Moussa Dembele (above Al Itifak) entered the Saudi stage.
Liverpool's heart Steven Gerrard took the helm of Al Itpak. Interest is expected to rise further as Nuno Santu, who was in charge of Tottenham Hotspur, is in charge of Al Ittihad, and famous leaders are also scheduled to visit the Saudi stage.
After already showing financial power with the establishment of LIV Golf, it is rushing forward with the announcement of the merger with the US Professional Golf (PGA) Tour. It is also a matter of interest to see what kind of impact it will have in football. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) rejected Al-Hilal's Group 1 transfer offer, but paradoxically proved that he is shaking the 'oil money' European football world.
For domestic fans, the SPL is a league that is quite familiar. Starting with Seol Ki-hyeon, many Korean players such as Lee Young-pyo, Lee Chun-soo, Song Jong-guk, and Kwak Tae-hwi passed through. Even now, goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu (Al Shabab) and central midfielder Jung Woo-young (Al Khaliz), who are the main players in Qatar World Cup round of 16, are active.
It's exciting to see SPL in real time, which was 'unknown world'. In the future, when meeting Saudi Arabia in the 2026 North and Central America World Cup Asian 3rd qualifying round, it can be of sufficient help to analyze the power to check the skills of our players in the SPL.
Meanwhile, SPOTV's broadcasting of the Saudi Pro League does not stop in Korea. It also acquired broadcasting rights in Korea and Japan as well as in Southeast Asia to meet viewers through TV channels and sports OTT services. It is the result of SPOTV's efforts to go global.
An official from Sporty said, "We are working hard to secure a variety of content that matches the status of Korea's only sports OTT service in line with the needs of sports fans." Please," he said.