In a new era for Saudi Arabian football, the 2023-24 Roshn Saudi League proved a game-changing season - with more goals, interest and growth for the competition than ever before.
Omar Mugharbel, Saudi Pro League CEO, said: “The 2023-24 Roshn Saudi League season will be remembered as a milestone moment in the growth of elite football in Saudi Arabia. Some of the best players in the world chose the Roshn Saudi League to showcase their incredible talents alongside the next generation of young Saudi talent.
"Their arrival amplified even further the huge interest in the league from fans, broadcasters and sponsors. It is impossible to overstate how much of a game-changing season 2023-24 has been.”
On the pitch, champions Al Hilal created football history, and global headlines, by setting a world top-flight record for the number of successive victories, winning 34 consecutive games across all competitions as well as enjoying an unbeaten RSL campaign.
Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo built on his success in the 2023 calendar year, where he netted the most club goals in the world with 54 in 59 appearances, by setting the RSL record for most goals scored in a season.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who made his Al Nassr debut in January 2023, found the net an incredible 35 times from 31 RSL matches during the 2023-24 campaign. In the most entertaining season of the modern era, a total of 909 goals were scored - an increase of 40 percent from last year’s campaign.
The season began with major international signings, such as Karim Benzema, Neymar, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane, N’Golo Kante, Georgino Wijnaldum, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ruben Neves, with the league attracting 156 players from 54 countries.
With a focus on developing young Saudi talent to excel on the global stage, the age eligibility for young players was reduced from 18 to 16 years old, helping the average age of players this season dropping to 27.5.
Off the pitch, the transformation of the league generated even wider global attention. That was reflected in major milestones achieved across metrics such as broadcast deals, sponsorship agreements and social media reach.
More than 160 countries broadcast the RSL on 38 global platforms, taking the league to more football fans than ever before. Digitally, the RSL social media channels grew by 6.72 million followers, representing a 141% increase from the start of the season.
Mugharbel added: “As we progress to full preparations for next season, there is no doubt that the league will continue to grow from strength to strength. What is crucial now is enhancing the offering for all stakeholders across the Roshn Saudi League to ensure that we deliver a product on and off the field that is truly and consistently world class across all metrics.
"These are hugely exciting times for football in Saudi Arabia and we look forward immensely to the Roshn Saudi League season 2024-25.”
2023-24 Roshn Saudi League in numbers:
Players
- There were 156 players from 54 countries.
- The age eligibility for young players was reduced from 18 to 16 years old.
- The average age of players this season fell by 1.5 years from 29 to 27.5 years old.
Goals
- A total of 909 goals were scored this season from 306 games – an increase of 40% from last season.
- By netting 35 goals, Al Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo set a new record for goals scored in a top-flight Saudi league season. The Portuguese legend’s achievement overtook Abderrazak Hamdallah's mark of 34 in the 2018-19 campaign. Since joining Al Nassr in late December 2022, Ronaldo has scored 64 goals in 69 games for the club in all competitions.
- A record was set for the most the hat-tricks in a season, with a total of 17 hat-tricks scored. Ronaldo scored four.
Stadiums
- Eight RSL clubs moved into new stadiums this year: Al Hilal, Al Shabab, Al Ettifaq, Al Fateh, Al Taawoun, Al Raed, Al Hazem, and Damac.
Top five attendances
- Matchweek 2: Al Hilal v Al Fayha, 59,600
- Matchweek 9: Al Ittihad v Al Ahli, 55,764
- Matchweek 24: Al Ahli v Al Nassr, 52,037
- Matchweek 11: Al Hilal v Al Ahli, 50,986
- Matchweek 26: Al Ahli v Al Ittihad, 50,633
Awards
- The RSL winners for the 2023-24 season were Al Hilal, who claimed the title under the guidance of coach Jorge Jesus. Al Hilal finished the season unbeaten, winning 31 of their 34 games, to register 96 points. They finished 14 points ahead of second-placed Al Nassr.
- Al Hilal created top-flight world football history earlier in the campaign by winning 34 matches in succession across all competitions. This incredible achievement saw them overtake Welsh club The News Saints’ winning streak of 27 games in the 2016-17 season. Prior to that, the record stood for 44 years following Dutch giants Ajax’s 26-game winning run between 1971 and 1972.
- The 2023-24 RSL Manager of the Season award was won by Al Hilal's Jorge Jesus after he collected five Manager of the Month awards during the campaign.
- The 2023-24 RSL Top Goalscorer award was won by Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo, who netted 35 goals.
- The 2023-24 RSL Goalkeeper of the Season award was won by Al Hilal's Yassine Bono after the Moroccan earned 15 clean sheets and conceded the least amount of goals (23)
Broadcast
- More than 160 countries broadcast the RSL on 38 global platforms, representing an increase of around 30% on the more than 125 countries who secured the rights to broadcast the league last campaign.
Sponsorship
- Sponsors increased from three last season to 11 this season - a 267% increase.
- The number of international sponsors trebled to three this season from one last season - a 200% increase.
Social Media and Fantasy Football
- RSL social media channels grew by 6.72 million followers, representing a 141% increase from the start of the season.
- There are now more than 11 million followers combined on all RSL social media channels.
- League pages were also launched on Chinese social media platforms Weibo and Douyin.
- There are more than 2 million followers on each of the league’s X (Twitter) Arabic, Instagram Arabic and TikTok accounts.
- The number of impressions across all social media channels totalled 1.5billion - a 315% increase from last season.
- RSL Fantasy League launched on November 12 and within the first week gained 100,000 users. Currently at 181,000 users from 50 countries, the top-five RSL fantasy players come from the following nations: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, and Sudan.
