All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) will launch a dedicated women's sports channel in Saudi Arabia on Friday in partnership with the country's football federation and national broadcaster Saudi Sports Company.
Co-founded by Oscar-winning actor and comedian Whoopi Goldberg, AWSN was launched late last year as the first global media channel dedicated exclusively to showcasing women's sports.
The 24-hour "SSC AWSN" channel will be available in the kingdom via the MBC Shahid streaming platform from Friday, an AWSN spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday.
Female athletes were for many years an untapped reservoir of talent in the conservative Islamic state, with girls banned from participating in sport at public schools until 2017 and women not allowed into sports stadiums until the following year.
The policies were reversed under the influence of Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family and Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States.
The launch coincides with the start of the Saudi Women's Premier League season, which will be broadcast domestically and worldwide for the first time.
"Since the launch of the Women's Premier League in 2022, I have been immensely proud of the progress it has made," Princess Reema said, adding that last season featured players from more than 20 nationalities.
"With this partnership, their fans abroad will be able to watch them live."
Aalia Al Rasheed, head of women's football at the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, said the broadcasts would be "a transformative milestone" that offered players global recognition.
AWSN said the channel will show a prime-time Saudi Women's Premier League match each week and carry international women’s competitions, including UEFA events, and action from a wide variety of other women's sports leagues.
"Together, we are breaking barriers by providing global coverage of Saudi women's sports while introducing to the kingdom an unprecedented lineup of international leagues and talent," AWSN CEO and co-founder George Chung said.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Saudi Arabia has been seeking to bring more foreign investment to the country as part of its Vision 2030 program to shift the economy away from oil dependency and boost the private sector.
Amill Lone, chief executive of the Saudi Sports Company, said the tie-up aligns with the Vision 2030 agenda and aims to give Saudi women's sports a global platform.
