A new Twenty20 (T20) men's cricket league will launch in Saudi Arabia this year, marking the Kingdom's first significant investment in the sport.
The Dunes T20 is scheduled to hold its inaugural edition in October despite the current geopolitical situation in the region – the US and Israel are at war with Iran, which is currently bombing other Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia.
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The six-team league has been created following a tie-up between the Saudi Arabia Cricket Federation and a duo of sports marketing agencies – Prolithic and Unique Sports.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, through which the vast majority of sports-based expansion the Kingdom gets involved in is funneled, is not involved.
It has been reported that organizers see this competition as a first step towards bringing a significant and lucrative franchise cricket tournament to Saudi Arabia, which would be able to attract the world's best players.
Currently, the 10-team Indian Premier League is by far and away the highest-profile and wealthiest T20 franchise tournament worldwide, with other significant competitions taking place in almost all of the sport's established markets (as well as in emerging ones such as the US and the United Arab Emirates).
BBC Sport has reported that interest, in terms of owning one of the six franchises, is expected from markets including India, the US, and the UAE.
All the action this coming season will take place at the Taif Cricket Ground near the city of Jeddah, it is anticipated.
The Kingdom's cricketing interests up to this point have extended to a partnership with the ILT20 (the franchise property in the UAE) and hosting the player auction for the IPL.
Saudi oil giant Aramco is also a major commercial partner of the International Cricket Council, the game's global governing body, with that agreement running through 2027.
Saudi Arabia has been looking to launch such a tournament as this for several years, with initial reports emanating in April of 2023.
Cricket, up to this point, had been one of the few worldwide sports in which the Kingdom had not yet made a serious splash and invested heavily.
