The soccer world’s new big spender slashes budget for stars

The deluge of cash didn’t last.

The Saudi Pro League’s spending on new players fell to just over $530 million this summer, according to soccer data website Transfermarkt. The kingdom picked up fewer high-profile stars, adding Premier League standouts Ivan Toney, João Cancelo and Moussa Diaby.

While this year’s figure is still hefty—the Saudi league was the world’s sixth most prolific spender among leagues this summer—it shows that the Saudi sports-spending push may have been more of a tidal wave than a lasting flood.

A spokesman for the Saudi league said the drop-off in new signings was a “a sign of stability," as the league already has a strong roster of foreign talent.

“It’s not possible to sign the best player in the world every year," he said, adding the organization is working to help improve attendance across the league.

The drop in the budget for soccer stars reflects a broader spending whiplash in Saudi Arabia. Faced with rising spending tabs and sagging oil prices, the country is coming to grips with the reality that it is far short of the cash needed to fund all the ambitious megaprojects and initiatives pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Over the past decade, the de facto ruler has unleashed one multibillion-dollar plan after another to reshape the country’s economy and elevate its global stature. These include aspirations to become an electric-vehicle manufacturing hub, a leader in artificial intelligence and the developer of world-class megaprojects. The kingdom also sought to play big in the world of sports, splashing funds on a new golf league—LIV Golf—and becoming a key sponsor of tennis and cricket.

Late last year, Saudi officials began to publicly acknowledge the country lacked the funds to complete everything it started. Since, officials have said numerous plans have been delayed or scrapped, though they released few specifics. The kingdom’s wealth fund has ratcheted back on foreign investments, while initial phases of megaprojects such as Neom—planned as a 106-mile-long skyscraper—have been sharply curtailed.

Soccer holds a special place in Saudi Arabia’s broader spending drive, as the country is now the only bidder vying to host the 2034 World Cup. Numerous avant-garde new stadiums have been proposed, including one over 1,000 feet high in the Neom skyscraper.

A push into the sport was seen by backers as an effort to satisfy numerous goals at once. A strong local league, the thinking went, would help build up a local entertainment sector that was virtually nonexistent before Mohammed’s rise to power. It would encourage more physical activity in a country where obesity is a consistent concern, and it could aid the kingdom’s image on a world stage.

The wallet opened up in 2022, when the country’s Al-Nassr team lured Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, from Manchester United.

Last year, the country’s wealth fund took a 75% stake in four teams within the Saudi Pro League, and pledged ample funding to find the best players. The teams proceeded to shower cash on stars, bringing Brazil’s Neymar and French World Cup winner N’Golo Kante to the kingdom, and the wealth fund became soccer’s single biggest spender among team owners.

The payouts shook the broader sport. Top stars elevated their expectations for salaries, while the Saudi purchases filled European clubs’ accounts with cash, according to Kieran Maguire, lecturer on soccer finance at the University of Liverpool. “They essentially had free money."

The stature of the league quickly vaulted upward, aided by its success luring not just aging stars but mid-career players such as Neymar, who is 32, and Ruben Neves, who is 27. Television networks that operate in over 130 countries and territories signed on to broadcast games, and sponsors began to roll in.

Teething problems emerged.

Despite the flood of talent, fans didn’t come rushing.

Average attendance per game actually fell 16% to less than 8,200, while overall attendance in the league grew 13% to 2.5 million, according to Transfermarkt. The Saudi league has blamed stadium renovations and events that pushed soccer games to smaller venues.

Several players, such as the former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, left just months after signing. Henderson said that the decision was best for him and family.

Some players and coaches also live in neighboring Bahrain instead of the country they are paid to play in, commuting across the border where alcohol and other activities banned in Saudi are permitted.

Backers say the push will take years to bear fruit, and point to signs of traction. Already the league has attracted new private sponsors, and top clubs occasionally attract over 50,000 fans to games. Thousands of fans packed into viewing parties during away games.

It could be a long road. Building up professional soccer in the U.S. has been a decadeslong effort, while China has struggled to build a strong local team.

Much of the league’s long-term prospects will depend on its ability to nurture local talent, given that rules prohibit more than 10 foreigners from playing on a given team.

“Spending on grassroots, spending on community football, spending on depth and quality and Saudi Arabian professional football is very, very important," said Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Skema Business School.

Write to Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com and Eliot Brown at Eliot.Brown@wsj.com