Saudi Arabia leads soft-power revolution in sports

Soft power is the ability of a state to co-opt, not coerce, others into actions favorable for all participating in any transaction in the arena of international politics.

Saudi Arabia has both hard and soft power, and this great nation is using both wisely and in a balanced way. It has provided the world with the ideal definition of soft power and how it should be applied. The significance of the concept is demonstrated most evidently through the increasing role of the Kingdom in many activities.

Saudi Arabia is using soft power to win over global public opinion, and importantly, to promote prosperity. In other words, unlike many other countries that seek to exclusively advance their own interests, Saudi Arabia’s mission is for the collective good — of all nations, groups, communities and individuals.

A pertinent example is Saudi Arabia’s successful foray into sport, in particular its rescue of boxing with some of the biggest fights in recent memory, in both the Kingdom and abroad.

This combat sport has been in decline for several years, which can be attributed, partly, to the rise of mixed martial arts, especially the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Boxing lacks the star power it used to have; gone are the days of Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and others. In addition, viewership has fallen because of the somewhat restrictive pay-per-view business model for major fights.

There have also been safety concerns raised about the sport, particularly toward the more violent iterations such as bare-knuckle fighting where fighters do not wear any gloves at all — resulting in brutal outcomes of bloodied and damaged hands and faces.

In addition, boxing is poorly marketed by a wide array of self-interested promoters, and fragmented sanctioning bodies, unconcerned about matching the best fighters in each division. Despite these negatives, boxing can still draw on a huge and loyal audience when done right.

The increasing influence of the information revolution and globalization has led to the growing importance of soft forms of power, which has found its best expression in the policies of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has, according to The New York Times, proposed the consolidation of boxing into one unified league. Within this structure, the best fighters will face each other, with revenues split evenly among all stakeholders.

Such a global boxing league under the supervision of Saudi Arabia will revive the sport. It is a continuation of the excellent policies that the government has implemented in other sports including golf, soccer, and even cricket.

The financing will come from Saudi Arabia’s giant sovereign wealth vehicle, the Public Investment Fund. The initial investment figure is estimated at $2 billion. There will be 12 weight classes that will encompass the world’s top fighters.

So far, 200 of the world’s best boxers have signed up for the plan. This means that each weight category will have at least 15 top fighters, with the potential for an increase in the number of boxers as the league grows.

The NYT reported that the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh, is “at the center of the plans to restructure boxing, and alluded as much in a recent interview with ESPN in which he reportedly said he planned to ‘fix’ a ‘broken sport.’”

Saudi Arabia is teaching the world how nations can make a strategic shift from hard to soft power. This demonstrates the larger transformation of the Kingdom both internally and on the international stage. Saudi Arabia works with national governments and relevant private-sector stakeholders to draw on and acquire soft power.

The mechanism of soft power that the Kingdom employs will attract many exciting boxing matches to Saudi Arabia for a global audience. The country has the ability to maintain international competitiveness in a world where the US and China are the leading competitors.

Finally, the increasing influence of the information revolution and globalization has led to the growing importance of soft forms of power, which has found its best expression in the policies of Saudi Arabia.

• Faisal Al-Shammeri is a political analyst. X: @Mr_Alshammeri