That Crazy, LED-First Footy Stadium Outside Riyadh Is Getting Built
January 15, 2025 by Dave Haynes
When multi-billion dollar, way over the top mega-projects like sports stadiums are announced, it is entirely reasonable to wonder if they’ll ever go beyond the press release phase. But arguably the most ambitious, digital-filled stadium to ever get announced is now in early construction in Saudi Arabia.
The grounds for the plateau-edge Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium (aka the Qiddiya Stadium) outside of Riyadh are being shaped, with a target opening date four years from now.
This in mostly interesting because the stadium is not a building that has a big LED display hanging in the seating bowl. Big screens line the exterior and fill much of the visual space inside in the seating areas.
The venue will hold almost 47,000 spectators and will be one of the sites for the 2034 Men’s World Cup (football/soccer). The construction involve a consortium: Spain’s FCC Construcción and Saudi Arabia’s Nesma & Partners Contracting Company. It will also be the home grounds for a pair of clubs in the Saudi Pro League – Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr. Footy fans will know that the deep-pocketed Saudis have been paying big money to recruit some of the biggest names in football – like Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.
The LED displays are part of an overall design to also enable the venue to be transformed and use for different kinds of events, such as concerts and laser shows.
Display technology moves so fast these days that I seriously doubt that anything has been settled on what will be used, or the manufacturer. But there may well be a solutions provider doing the early work to establish things like the where, how and why, with the what to use and who will supply to come later. Giant deal for someone!
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