The first full season of Kings League MENA attracted more than 100 million live-stream views across six weeks, highlighting the growing interest in the innovative seven-a-side competition launched by former Spain international Gerard Pique.
The competition’s opening Split 1 took place from 18 September to 30 October at Cool Arena in Riyadh’s Boulevard. In Kings League terminology, Split 1 refers to the complete season, including both the league phase and the knockout stages.
The event built on the success of last year’s inaugural Kings Cup MENA, expanding from eight teams to 10 and increasing the number of matches from 17 to 51.
Kings League data partner Hatchet confirmed that live-stream views had more than tripled from the 33 million recorded during the inaugural edition. Each match day attracted an average of 4.1 million unique viewers.
The action on the pitch matched the scale of the audience, with 524 goals scored across the 51 games. Matchday eight set a new competition record after 70 goals were scored in a single night, surpassing the previous mark of 55 set on matchday three.
FWZ also set a tournament record in the sixth round by recording the biggest win in Kings League MENA history. The Kuwaiti side defeated Qatar representatives ABO FC 13-3.
Nine of the 10 teams still had a chance of reaching the knockout stages on the final day of the league phase, underlining the closely fought nature of the competition.
FWZ, led by Kuwaiti content creator Fawaz, went on to win the title after beating Moroccan team Ultra Chmicha 5-4 in an entertaining final on 30 October.
The tournament featured 10 teams from six countries: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar. Each side was led by one of the region’s leading content creators, who served as club president.
Among them were Younes Zarou, who has more than 125 million followers and was co-president of Moroccan team Bakhira FC; Abu Falah, who has more than 72 million followers and led ABO FC; and Drb7h, who has more than 10 million followers and served as president of Saudi team DR7.
The competition also featured several prominent football figures. Former Belgium international and Al-Shabab star Yannick Carrasco joined Ultra Chmicha as vice-president and scored a “president’s penalty” on his debut. The unique rule allows team presidents to enter the pitch and take a penalty.
Saudi Arabia international Khaled Al-Ghannam served as co-president of DR7 during the knockout stages. Jordan internationals Yazan Al-Naimat and Ali Olwan were also involved as co-presidents of Jordanian teams 3BS and Red Zone respectively.
Fans could watch every match live and free through the presidents’ personal streaming channels and the official Kings League outlets on Kick, YouTube, TikTok and Twitch. Live coverage was also provided by official media partner MBC Group through MBC Action and Shahid.
Kings League MENA is a joint project between Kings League and SIRAJ Sports Investment, created to bring the global competition to the Middle East and North Africa. After the success of Kings Cup MENA in 2025, the tournament returned to Cool Arena in Riyadh for its first stage in September and October 2026.
