Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

Finance

Qatari Sheikh Considering Sponsoring Or Acquiring An NRL Club

A Qatari sheikh worth an estimated A$60B ($45.4B) wants to invest in the National Rugby League, according to Dean Ritchie of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. It would be a "historic game-changer for rugby league." Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani has reportedly "discussed either sponsoring an NRL club -- or simply buying one." Khalid Mohammad, who calls himself a "spokesman to his Highness," said, "Definitely, money, funding, isn’t an issue for us. Rugby league is a very famous game in Australia, U.K., New Zealand and all over the world." Sheikh Faisal "has befriended an NRL-loving Australian businessman, Michael Ibrahim," who has worked in the Middle East for the past 18 years. The sheikh has "already injected money into the Pacific rugby league nations" and is proposing a tournament in Doha -- involving Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Qatar -- late next year. Extremely "well connected to the Qatar royal family, Ibrahim has direct contact" with Sheikh Faisal and is "encouraging the financial giant to buy into rugby league." That is "exactly" what the sheikh plans to do. Mohammad: "I feel personally that this game represents our nation. Rugby league is a game of strength, power and strategy. In Qatar, we are highly interested in rugby league and brother Michael Ibrahim is a very close friend of ours. We can sponsor the clubs in Australia. He told us there are some struggling clubs in Australia and we are willing to buy them." Sheikh Faisal’s family wealth is A$60B, while his personal wealth is around A$3B ($2.3B) (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 11/29).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2017/11/30/Finance/Al-Thani-NRL.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2017/11/30/Finance/Al-Thani-NRL.aspx

CLOSE