The global sports economy has quietly transformed from a supporting entertainment sector into a primary economic engine.
Once driven largely by tradition and fandom, sport today sits at the intersection of infrastructure, technology, media, health, and geopolitics. Nowhere is this shift more visible than in Saudi Arabia and India, two nations pursuing ambitious but fundamentally different strategies as they race toward 2030 .
While Saudi Arabia is building a centralized, sovereign-led sports economy as part of Vision 2030, India’s rise is being powered by private capital, digital scale, and mass participation. Together, they represent the most significant rebalancing of global sports power since the commercial boom of European football in the late 20th century.
Saudi Arabia: A Full-Stack, State-Led Sports Economy
Saudi Arabia’s sports market was valued at USD 8.4 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to USD 22.5 billion by 2030, an aggressive annual growth rate of nearly 18%. This expansion is not incidental; it is a core pillar of Vision 2030, aimed at reducing reliance on oil revenues and reshaping the Kingdom’s global image. The National Sports Strategy places sport at the centre of economic diversification, targeting an increase in its contribution to non-oil GDP from 1.6% to 3% by the end of the decade.
Alongside this, Saudi Arabia plans to create 136,000 new sports-sector jobs, focusing on elite performance, venue management, technology integration, and event operations.
Saudi investment has been unapologetically global. Between 2020 and early 2025, Saudi entities invested over USD 7 billion in international sports assets. High-profile acquisitions such as Newcastle United, the launch of LIV Golf, and hosting rights for Formula 1, heavyweight boxing, WWE, and major esports events have positioned the Kingdom as both a disruptor and a destination.
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Crucially, Saudi Arabia is pairing spectacle with infrastructure. Over 15 smart stadiums are currently under development, designed with renewable energy systems, AI-driven crowd management, and immersive fan technologies. Sport here is not just an event; it is an integrated urban and tourism product.
India: Scale, Digital Power and Private Capital
India’s sports economy operates on an entirely different logic. Already valued at approximately USD 52 billion, it is expected to reach USD 130 billion by 2030, growing at around 14% CAGR nearly double the pace of India’s GDP growth.
Unlike Saudi Arabia’s centralised model, India’s expansion is decentralised and market-driven. Corporate conglomerates such as Reliance Industries, Tata Group, JSW Group, and Adani Group have embedded sport into broader consumer, media, and infrastructure strategies. Team ownership, league investments, and grassroots academies are no longer vanity projects; they are long-term brand and data assets.
India’s real advantage lies in digital consumption. Over 90% of Indian sports fans access content digitally, with Gen Z showing an even stronger preference for mobile-first and on-demand formats. Fantasy sports, OTT streaming, social media engagement, and short-form video have fundamentally altered how sport is monetised and followed.
This digital ecosystem has also created jobs at scale. India’s sports sector currently employs around 4.7 million people, a figure expected to rise to 10.5 million by 2030. These roles extend beyond athletes and coaches to include data analysts, content creators, sports technologists, nutrition specialists, and performance scientists.
Technology as the Common Denominator
Despite their different approaches, technology is the shared foundation of both sports economies. Globally, the market for sports analytics, AI platforms, and wearables is expanding rapidly, and both nations are leaning heavily into this trend.
In India, the sports technology market, valued at roughly USD 442 million in 2024, is projected to more than triple over the next decade. Wearables, AI-driven coaching tools, and performance analytics once exclusive to elite athletes are now entering the consumer mainstream. Startups are using AI to assess grassroots talent, monitor workloads, and personalize training, bridging long-standing gaps in India’s sporting pyramid.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is embedding AI deeper into infrastructure. Smart venues, facial-recognition security systems, real-time crowd analytics, and energy-efficient stadium designs position sport as a testing ground for future urban technologies.
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Gaming and esports represent the clearest overlap between sport, technology, and youth culture. Saudi Arabia has committed a staggering USD 37.8 billion to gaming and esports, aiming to create 39,000 jobs and add USD 13.3 billion to GDP by 2030. Riyadh’s ambition is to become a global gaming capital, hosting flagship events like the Esports World Cup.
India’s gaming story is more organic but no less powerful. The market is expected to grow from USD 4.38 billion in 2025 to USD 8.74 billion by 2030, driven primarily by mobile gaming and 5G expansion. While regulatory uncertainty remains, India’s sheer user base and vernacular content ecosystem give it unmatched scale.
Mass Participation and Social Impact
Sport in both countries is also a tool for social transformation. In Saudi Arabia, weekly physical activity levels have jumped from 13% in 2015 to nearly 50%, with female participation rising by 149%. Licensed academies and community programmes have played a key role in reshaping social norms. India’s challenge is different. While informal physical activity is widespread, structured fitness penetration remains low. However, initiatives like Khelo India and Fit India are slowly building a foundation, supported by increased government funding and private gym expansion into Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
Saudi Arabia and India are not competing in the same way traditional sports nations once did. One is building a state-orchestrated, premium global sports hub; the other is scaling a mass-market, digitally driven sports economy. Yet both are reshaping where capital, talent, and influence will flow in global sport over the next decade.
As 2030 approaches, the lesson for global stakeholders is clear: the future of sport will not be decided solely in Europe or North America.
It will be shaped in Riyadh’s smart stadiums and India’s mobile screens—by two nations proving that sport is no longer just played on the field, but built into the economy itself.
