The Italian Super Cup is less hot than expected! To host the "overseas competition", Saudi Arabia's standards are getting higher and higher

The reporter reported coldly The Italian Super Cup final on January 6 was the second Milan derby since Saudi Arabia hosted the tournament in 2018. The game was exciting and the reversal was very exciting, but the IP of this top event in Italian football did not bring the expected international influence and commercial value to Saudi Arabia, and the number of spectators in the final was even lower than last year's match between Inter and Napoli. In March 2023, Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to host four of the next six editions of the Italian Super Cup, and now the Saudi Football Federation has considered whether to fulfill the remaining agreements.

Hosting the "overseas competitions" of Europe's five major leagues used to be the main means for Saudi Arabia to increase its international influence and promote the local football industry. However, the popularity and commercial benefits of the Italian Super Cup were lower than expected, and the Saudis had to reassess the practical value of hosting the "overseas competitions" of Europe's top five leagues.

Six years ago, Saudi Arabia hosted the Italian Super Cup for the first time, with more than 61,000 people in attendance to watch the match between Juventus and AC Milan. The last two editions of the Italian Super Cup, which has been expanded to four teams, were both arranged at the Riyadh Stadium with a capacity of only 25,000 people, proving the disappointment of the Saudis with the event. While the expansion of the King Fahd Stadium (58,000 capacity), which was originally scheduled to host the event, is a "reasonable excuse", Saudi Arabia could place the event at the King Abdullah Stadium in Jeddah, which has a capacity of 62,000 people, and host both events in the same city, as Riyadh did in January 2023. However, between the Italian Super Cup of Milan and the Spanish Super Cup with the participation of Real Madrid and Barcelona, the Saudis still chose to put the more influential and commercially valuable Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah, which has a larger stadium capacity.

From 2019 to 2023, Saudi Arabia successfully hosted 3 Italian Super Cup finals, and signed a contract to host 4 Italian Super Cups in the next 6 years, totaling 138 million euros. The Italian Football Federation pays 34.5 million euros per tournament, which is not much different from the Spanish Super Cup (40 million euros) with Real Madrid and Barcelona as the signatures. Italy expanded the Italian Super Cup from two to four teams at the request of Saudi Arabia, and like the Spanish Super Cup, it can accommodate as many giants as possible.

But last year's first four-team version of the Italian Super Cup, only Inter Milan was a giant of the four teams. As a direct result of the semi-finals between Napoli and Fiorentina, the stadiums with a capacity of only 25,000 attracted fewer than 10,000 spectators. Although this year's Italian Super Cup gathered the top three in the north with the most popularity and commercial value, the attendance rate of Inter Milan's semi-final against Atalanta was still as low as 67%. Originally, the Italian Super Cup was one of the most important sporting events of the "Riyadh Season", which is rich in entertainment and sporting events, but the attention and attendance were disappointing.

Saudi Arabia signed a contract to host the Italian Super Cup four times in six years, vacating two editions in 2026 and 2027. Last year, they were considering hosting both tournaments together, but now they have decided to evaluate whether to continue hosting the tournament in the future, although they will not make a final decision until the end of the Riyadh season at the end of March.

After the blow of last year's Italian Super Cup, the Saudis have added a deduction clause linked to whether Real Madrid and Barcelona will participate in the contract terms of the Spanish Super Cup, which they were more keen to host. In 2021, Saudi Arabia signed a contract to renew the Spanish Super Cup, which is renewed in a 3+4 manner, until 2029, according to the contract, Saudi Arabia will pay a total of 240 million to 320 million euros to the Spanish Football Federation. At the same time, starting from this year's Spanish Super Cup, if one team of Real Madrid and Barcelona cannot participate, the Spanish Football Association will refund the Saudis 5 million euros per team for the hosting fee, which can be regarded as a "guarantee" for the commercial value of the Spanish Super Cup.

Since its successful bid to host the 2034 World Cup in December last year, the Saudi Football Federation has begun to consider changing its strategic direction to host international competitions. The international influence and commercial value of a single country's top competitions such as the Italian Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup are basically limited to one country, which cannot meet the needs of Saudi Arabia to attract more foreign fans to watch the game. As a result, Saudi Arabia is more inclined to bid for international competitions with more national teams, and they have already successfully bid to host the final stage of the AFC Champions League in 2025 and 2026, as well as the 2027 Asian Cup. In addition, they are trying to take the new version of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup away from Qatar and keep it in Saudi Arabia for a long time. Qatar won the right to host the U17 World Junior Championship for the next five consecutive years, and Saudi Arabia is waiting for FIFA to expand the U20 World Youth Championship and change it to an annual edition, like Qatar to win the right to host the tournament for five consecutive years.

The Spanish Super Cup and Italian Super Cup may still be held in Saudi Arabia in the future, but they are no longer the first choice for Saudi Arabia to host international competitions. In the future, even if it continues to host Europe's top club competitions, Saudi Arabia will give priority to competitions with more international influence and commercial value, such as the Champions League final, the UEFA Super Cup, or matches between the traditional top six of the Premier League. Obviously, Saudi Arabia's requirements to host top-level events have become more and more "tricky".