Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season has made a huge move into snooker and darts after signing a massive new partnership with Matchroom Sport.
The deal is described as a groundbreaking collaboration that will cover a host of huge events across Matchroom Boxing, Professional Darts Corporation, and World Snooker.
The deal also comes at a time when speculation that Turki Alalshikh and the Saudis – who have breathed new life into the sport of boxing – could buy the entire Matchroom empire. Remember Chairman Eddie Hearn said in the past 12 months that the business had been valued at £1billion.
The landmark deal ensures Riyadh Season continues to play a key and visible role in some big nights ahead for Matchroom Sport – with a multi-channel partnership and the Riyadh Season brand featuring prominently across Matchroom Sport events.
Riyadh Season launched in 2019 and achieved a major milestone during its most recent Season when the number of visitors exceeded 20 million for the first time. Riyadh Season’s impact has also seen boxing and a number of sports – including snooker – transformed by delivering some of the most memorable nights in the modern era.
New deal takes relationship to new level
In its partnership with Matchroom Boxing, it has already brought some of the sport’s most exciting showdowns to Riyadh, as well as across the globe, including in the UK, USA and Mexico, attracting high-level international attention and top-tier talent such as Anthony Joshua, Dmitry Bivol, Jai Opetaia, and Conor Benn, who faces bitter rival Chris Eubank Jr in their eagerly awaited rematch ‘Unfinished Business’ on Saturday, November 15 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London – screened exclusively worldwide on DAZN.
On November 22, in Riyadh, pound-for-pound superstar Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez fights Fernando “Puma” Martinez for the Unified Super-Bantamweight titles – including the coveted Ring Magazine belt – as part of The Ring IV fight card, ‘Night of Champions’, headlined by Anthony Yarde and David Benavidez.
In the same week, some of snooker’s all-time greats – such as Ronnie O’Sullivan and defending champion Mark Allen – return to Saudi Arabia from November 19 to 21 for the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, delivered by WST and broadcast in the UK on TNT Sports. The tournament is best known for the unique gold ball, worth 20 points and can only be potted at the end of a maximum 147, for an unprecedented ‘super-maximum’ of 167 – and $1million, the snooker’s biggest ever bonus prize.
Darts’ biggest names will also join this year’s Riyadh Season for the first ever Saudi Arabia Darts Masters in January 2026 – part of the PDC’s 2026 World Series of Darts global roadshow, which will see star-studded events taking place across four continents, all available to watch in the UK via ITV Sport. The inaugural event will take place on January 19 and 20, giving local fans the chance to be part of darts’ unique atmosphere for the first time ever, while millions of fans will be tuning in around the world through the PDC’s global network of broadcast partners.
Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), said:“Riyadh Season’s reputation is built on being connected to events that carry huge and global interest and Matchroom Sport has been an important part of many of these occasions with us so far. We look forward to continuing our relationship and building on what we have already developed together to deliver even more ground-breaking and exciting tournaments and events in the future.”
Matchroom Sport Chairman Eddie Hearn added: “We are delighted to enter an exciting partnership with Riyadh Season as our special relationship continues to thrive. And we’re just getting started.
“We are incredibly grateful to His Excellency Turki Alalshikh for his continued investment in Boxing – and now into Snooker and Darts. The future is bright and we are hugely excited to deliver many more unforgettable nights for sports fans all over the world together in partnership with Riyadh Season.”
