Engaging your love for sports in Riyadh

Sports is something sports fans take very seriously. Be it football, American football, basketball, baseball or anything else, staying on top of the exciting games and developments of your team or your favourite athlete is something that can both help us relax, as well as get our blood pumping.  As an expat, you might think that going into a foreign country will limit your ability to do this, or restrict you into following local teams and athletes, if you’re lucky enough for your popular sport to be popular there. While this may well be the case for some countries, Saudi Arabia is not among them. 
 
Sports fandom in Saudi Arabia, and especially in Riyadh, is a hugely popular practice. Not only you can catch live games for almost every sport being played today with local professional tournaments and leagues, but also with international guest teams. This includes football (aka soccer), basketball, baseball, American football, hockey, volleyball, tennis, golf, even high-speed motor racing with Formula One stars like Max Verstappen at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix in the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Not to say anything for the ultra-luxurious stadiums, such as the current King Abdullah Stadium, or the upcoming futuristic, one-of-a-kind Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium. 
 
But, of course, not everyone always feels like watching sports in person all the time. Sometimes, you just want to sit comfortably on your couch with a refreshing beverage and snacks in hand and watch a game from the comfort of your home. Saudi Arabian TV is more than up to the task of keeping you connected with your favourite teams and athletes back home, and the facilities at Antara have the infrastructure to support your viewing habits, not just at your own residence, but also by setting up huge screens and organizing community viewings for the games that truly matter and more! 
 
If you feel that your preferred mode of watching sports is somewhere in the middle, Riyadh still has you covered. Aside from innumerable fan clubs dedicated to international teams and viewing parties organized by them, Riyadh also boasts an amazing selection of sports cafés, such as the Al Hilal Café, or the Al Masaa Café. Most of the sports cafés in Riyadh and beyond have all you need to enjoy a game: comfortable seating, tasty snacks and meals, fellow fans, gigantic TVs and of course plenty of refreshing or caffeinated beverages! And if you feel the need to play yourself, Riyadh and especially Antara have all the facilities to indulge you. 
 
So whether you are British and want to stay informed about your football team, or an American that wants to watch the World Series, or a Canadian that wants to watch ice hockey while it’s hot outside, you can’t go wrong with Riyadh.