Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in talks to create a Global Boxing League
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) are reportedly in talks with multiple boxing stakeholders to create a global boxing league in a deal that could be worth up to $5billion.
Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions are just two of the promotional companies that are reportedly in discussions with His Excellency Turki Al-Sheikh.
According to Reuters sources, discussions around a potential deal have been ongoing for the last month, which suggests plans could be in their final stages by now.
Riyadh Season has been groundbreaking for the sport of boxing, as Saudi Arabia has been able to pit the best of the best against each other with so much money available to make the fights happen.
The Middle East have been able to take away many of the politics and obstacles that prevent the biggest fights from happening, even managing to get rival British promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren to work together on numerous shows now, the latest being the fantastic 5 vs 5 event, on June 1st, that saw Queensberry win 5-0.
PIF wants to create a venture that would bring the main sport’s organisers together, in which it would take a minority stake.
Turki Al-Sheikh is a close advisor to the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and has become the face of boxing in Saudi Arabia as chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority.
Saudi Arabia has poured billions of dollars into sport as it seeks to wean the kingdom from oil dependency under ruler Crown Prince Mohammed’s Vision 2030 program, which aims to bring in tourism, boost the private sector, create jobs, improve quality of life and human rights records to change public perception.
Boxing is the latest sport to attract possible investment from the PIF, which is chaired by the crown prince, after deals across golf, Formula 1, and football. The PIF has also been considering an investment in a new cycling league.
The PIF shook up the world of golf by funding the LIV Golf series, in a move that created a rivalry with the PGA Tour and led to a shock deal to merge the tours that was announced last year.
There hasn’t yet been any confirmation of the global boxing league yet, but an announcement could be imminent.