Just eight years after women in Saudi Arabia were barred from entering football stadiums, the country’s women’s soccer landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation, moving from informal amateur play to a state-backed professional league.
Bayan Sadagah co-founded an amateur team in Jeddah in 2017 simply because there was nowhere for women to play. Today, she wears the jersey of Al-Ittihad within a formal, state-backed professional setup.
The structural and financial growth of the sport has accelerated since the launch of the Saudi Women’s Premier League in 2022. Prize money for the league has quadrupled over this short period, highlighted by Riyadh-based club Al-Nassr taking home 2 million riyals, equivalent to approximately $531,000, for winning last season’s championship title.
While compensation figures remain modest compared to the lucrative contracts standard in the men’s division, Saudi clubs are successfully utilizing tax-free salaries and expatriate perks to attract international talent. Among the foreign recruits is English defender Ashleigh Plumptre, who currently plays for Al-Ittihad. Beyond her athletic duties on the pitch, Plumptre has taken an active role in boosting local engagement by organizing school trips to matches in an effort to build a younger domestic fanbase.
Despite the rapid institutional growth and rising financial incentives, match attendance remains sparse across many fixtures. However, external investors see long-term commercial potential in the developing market. American tech investor Ben Harburg, who acquired the men’s club Al Kholood, indicated that he is exploring a potential buyout of a women’s club, driven by the bet that the women’s game could eventually outpace the men’s division in future growth.
