In case you haven't noticed, Saudi Arabia has been in our industry news lately and it's pretty eye-opening. In 2018, Saudi Entertainment Ventures (SEVEN) was founded "to create extraordinary opportunities for our Kingdom through entertainment", states their Who We Are Page. SEVEN is backed by the Kingdom's Public Investment Fun and have pledged to invest over $13B to create 21 entertainment destinations with over 150 attractions in 14 Saudi cities (Arab News: Nirmal Narayanan, 2024).
What really caught my attention was in 2023, when SEVEN made two huge steps in the entertainment business: 1) they acquired 85 AMC movie theaters and 2) partnered with Hasbro Inc. to bring Play-Doh-Entertainment centers throughout the Kingdom (Arab News: Nirmal Narayanan, 2024).
What does this mean for us? Well, what it appears is Saudi Arabia is looking to mirror what their neighbors Dubai have done and start attracting more tourists to the area. Not only that, they have now become more attractive to investors and entertainment companies looking to expand their portfolios in an untapped market. Last, let's not forget Saudi Arabia's sports grab, signing Ronaldo and Neymar, two of the largest soccer stars in the world, and creating a new Golfing association to compete with the PGA tour.
We will continue to monitor the developments and report any major news. In the meantime, take a look at the article cited in this post if you want a more in-depth look:
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