VI Insights

Market reports on the sectors transforming Saudi Arabia.

Independent, fully cited market intelligence on Saudi Arabia's growth sectors — sports, entertainment, experiential and lifestyle, and the wider business-formation economy. Each edition tracks the openings, capital flows, regulation and pricing moves that matter, quantifies them from primary sources, and closes with our analysts' read on where the opportunity sits. Free to read, free to receive.

• Special edition · August 2026

  The Founding Gap: What 71,000 New Registrations a Quarter Don't Tell You About Building in Saudi Arabia

  Saudi Arabia is issuing roughly 71,000 new commercial registrations a quarter and has passed 1.9 million active records, but the formation surge sits atop a venture market that corrected 74% year-on-year in H1 2026 and a five-year startup survival rate still below half. The bottleneck is no longer starting — it is surviving the distance between a commercial registration and an operating, funded business. For founders, funders and service providers, the decision-relevant question has shifted from whether to start to how to reach traction before capital, compliance and cash flow catch up.

  Published 12 August 2026 · Read the report →

• Monthly report · July 2026

  From Spectacle to System: Saudi Sport and Entertainment's Institutional Turn

  July 2026 crystallised the shift from spectacle to system in Saudi Arabia's experience economy: PIF launched radia to run its venues, Riyadh Season locked in the Six Kings Slam, and a new Entertainment Activities Regulation and record permit flow signalled institutional maturity. Yet the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix — cancelled in the spring conflict, with a December reinstatement still under discussion as this goes to press — is a reminder that geopolitics, not demand, is now the binding constraint. Operators should read the month as a green light for permanent, licence-backed venue businesses and a caution on event models exposed to single tentpole dates.

  Published 3 August 2026 · Read the report →

• Quarterly report · Q2 2026

  The Quarter Saudi Sport Grew Up: Capital Discipline, a New Rulebook, and the Rise of the Integrated Destination

  Q2 2026 was the quarter Saudi Arabia's leisure economy pivoted from acquisition to operation. The Public Investment Fund confirmed it will end LIV Golf funding after 2026 and agreed to sell 70% of Al-Hilal, signalling a shift from state-owned spectacle toward commercial sustainability, even as Qiddiya opened Aquarabia, unveiled a 33,000-capacity National Tennis Centre, and a new Entertainment Activities Law took effect. For operators, the message is clear: the era of guaranteed anchor cheques is narrowing, and the winners will be those who can run assets, price to demand, and build recurring revenue.

  Published 1 July 2026 · Read the report →

• Monthly report · June 2026

  Two Signals, One Market: Saudi Entertainment Codifies Its Rules as the Capital Tap Tightens

  June 2026 crystallised the defining tension in Saudi Arabia's experience economy: the Cabinet approved a permanent Entertainment Activities Law that institutionalises a decade of ad-hoc expansion, even as PIF's confirmed exit from LIV Golf signalled a new returns discipline reshaping which ventures get funded. For operators, the read is clear — the giga-project pipeline in Jeddah Central and Qiddiya keeps building, but the era of unpriced capital is over, and the winners will be those who can show recurring revenue, not just scale.

  Published 1 July 2026 · Read the report →

• Special edition · June 2026 · Sports

  The Tournament Economy: What the 2026 World Cup Tells a Saudi Operator About 2034

  The 2026 World Cup is on course to be the most lucrative in history, with FIFA revenue projected above $11bn and a global economic footprint estimated up to $40.9bn — but the headline event of the cycle is FIFA's first-ever dynamic ticket pricing, which spiked the final to nearly $33,000 face value and drew a New York–New Jersey attorneys-general probe before prices corrected sharply. For Saudi Arabia, 2026 is a live dress rehearsal for 2034: Aramco's global FIFA platform, the Green Falcons' creditable group campaign, and a sports sector forecast to triple to $22.4bn by 2030 all point the same way, even as PIF cost discipline reshapes the stadium programme. The operator lesson is that the durable value sits in non-match-day venue economics, tourism multipliers and brand reach — not in the gate.

  Published 26 June 2026 · Read the report →

• Special edition · June 2026 · Entertainment

  The Year Riyadh Lent Its Crown: Saudi Esports After the Paris Detour

  The Esports World Cup — Saudi Arabia's $75m flagship and the centrepiece of its competitive-gaming strategy — runs in Paris this summer, the first edition outside Riyadh, after regional instability forced a one-year relocation. The economic engine behind it, however, remains firmly Saudi: Savvy Games Group's portfolio, Team Falcons' two-time championship dynasty, Qiddiya's 73,000-seat permanent district, and the Riyadh-bound Esports Nations Cup in November all sit onshore. For venue operators, brands and founders, 2026 is a stress test of how much of this economy is event-dependent and how much is structural — and the answer is mostly the latter.

  Published 11 June 2026 · Read the report →