Market Report: Saudi Arabia
With a population mostly made up of people under 30, demand for live entertainment is very high. Family entertainment tends to be more prevalent than music, but this is changing rapidly.
Primary ticketing
The nascent entertainment market here has seen a mix of domestic and international ticketers establish themselves.
Among the leading companies are Ticket, Evento, Webook, Ticketmaster KSA, Platinumlist, and Virgin Megastore, using technology by Lebanon-based B2B company Tixity.
“We’re seeing tremendous opportunities in emerging markets within the region”
“We’re seeing tremendous opportunities in emerging markets within the region,” says Andreas Müller – general manager and vice president of Ticketmaster Middle East. “The entertainment and events sector is experiencing significant growth, and we’re excited to tap into new markets in the region.”
Platinumlist says it is the largest ticketing company with a presence in all GCC states. “We are the first to launch ethical fan-to-fan ticket exchange and safe and secure transfer (end-to-end encoded dynamic QR code access control), which keeps the organiser in control and the main beneficiary from ticket resale,” says CEO Cosmin Ivan. “This…empowers the event organisers with more significant income from their events.”
Distribution of sales
Almost all tickets are sold digitally, with the majority of the population using apps to buy and store their event passes.
Value of market
The kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority valued the 2023 Saudi entertainment and events market, including live music, at approximately $15.5bn, with expectations of reaching $19.65bn by 2030.
Secondary ticketing
Ticket touting and the resale of tickets at higher than face value is generally considered illegal under the Kingdom’s regulations. Enforcement measures include fines and other penalties for those caught engaging in unauthorised ticket resales.
Cultural analysis
With the huge MDLBeast Soundstorm festival (which features Muse, Eminem, and Thirty Seconds To Mars from 12-14 December) and the inaugural Riyadh International Jazz Festival headlined by Chaka Khan in February, plus a huge range of new venues of all sizes in the pipeline, the live entertainment business in Saudi Arabia is set to grow rapidly.
Taxes & charges
VAT in Saudi Arabia increased from 5% to 15% in 2020, to counter the effects of Covid.
Country Profile: Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia remains something of a conundrum. The once- closed country continues to open up, and with over 63% of Saudis under 30, there’s certainly a demand for live entertainment.
New venues are being built, such as the 20,000-seat Jeddah Arena, due for completion in December 2025, and a brand-new, 45,000-capacity stadium in Qiddiya. Riyadh hosts by far the biggest festival in the Middle East, Soundstorm, promoted by MDLBEAST, with Eminem, Muse, and Tyler, the Creator set to headline this year’s edition.
Yet the kingdom’s record of human rights abuses shows no sign of improvement, and there needs to be major work done on event and live show legislation still. “There are still artists that don’t want to go, for obvious reasons,” says Thomas Ovesen, CEO of UAE-based All Things Live. “But the Saudis have successfully chipped away at it and have attracted more and more, including female artists. So there’s definitely a market.”
“The Saudis have successfully chipped away at it and have attracted more and more, including female artists. So there’s definitely a market.”
Ovesen notes that government-backed organisations in Saudi often book music, narrowing the opportunities for commercial promoters at present, and that “outside of family entertainment, there isn’t yet a legal setup that would protect our own promotions well enough. But if we could do business, we would, because it’s a very attractive market. With an audience hungry for entertainment, we just have to work out how it’s done.”
Aside from MDLBEAST, other promoters include UAE-based MAC Global, which operates across the region and recently helped produce Riyadh’s first jazz and opera festivals, Abu Dhabi-headquartered Ethara, SELA, plus the government-owned Ministry of Culture and General Entertainment Authority.
Corporate behemoth Live Nation is also active in the country.
“AlUla Development Company signed a three-year partnership agreement with Live Nation Arabia to manage operations at the multipurpose Maraya venue,” says James Craven, president of Live Nation Entertainment MENA. “The agreement will cement the venue’s position as a premier entertainment hub that will host a wide range of events.”
“The agreement will cement the venue’s position as a premier entertainment hub that will host a wide range of events.”
In terms of the market, contemporary music, K-pop, and EDM are especially popular, as are the West’s biggest stars; various seasonal festivals run across the kingdom, and some provinces also put on festivals. And with constant improvements in the region’s infrastructure and capabilities to host international events, continued growth – and better opportunities – seem likely. “As more venues come online in Riyadh and across the kingdom over the next few years, the market will certainly develop much faster than it has historically,” says Jasper Hope, opera and Broadway advisor to the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.
Further developments are being made to support emerging talent, says Dan Goldberg of MAC Global. “The Music Commission in KSA is doing some remarkable work in providing a platform for emerging talent and nurturing the next generation of artists and musicians.”
Arena Market: Saudi Arabia
“The Saudi government has plans to build venues all across the country,” says Iain Campbell, Oak View Group’s EVP Middle East and Africa. “Not just in Riyadh but Jeddah and across the nation. The number of new venues in the pipeline is very exciting.”
Indeed, the ambitious infrastructure plans in the kingdom have sparked considerable interest. Among the hoped-for new entertainment hotspots are the 45,000-cap Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium located in Qiddiya, an entertainment and tourism megaproject in Riyadh unveiled as part of the Vision 2030 masterplan.
The stadium, named after Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, will be capable of hosting some of the country’s biggest sports, entertainment, and cultural events, including, potentially, matches at the 2034 World Cup. It will serve as the home of Saudi Pro League clubs Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr and is projected to attract an estimated 7.6m annual visitors, with a retractable roof, pitch, and LED wall, and a lake and ice wall to cool the air inside.
Other coming developments include new stadiums in Riyadh and Dammam, as well as ASM Global’s 20,000-cap Jeddah Arena Airport City at King Abdulaziz International Airport, not to mention numerous other possible megaprojects with an entertainment component.
It’s all a mouth-watering prospect for the region’s most populous country’s young inhabitants and would turbo-charge the Gulf as a touring destination.
“Enthusiasm for sport and entertainment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is phenomenal,” says Campbell.