Cristiano Ronaldo’s official YouTube channel is making waves in the sports broadcasting landscape by live streaming the Premier Padel P1 finals, a move that tournament organizers have hailed as a ‘historic world-first moment.’
The Portuguese football icon, who boasts nearly 74 million subscribers on YouTube, is providing coverage of the semi-finals and finals to audiences in more than 130 countries worldwide. This complements Premier Padel’s existing partnerships with major broadcasters such as Red Bull TV, BeIN Sports, Canal+, ESPN, Sky Italia, Movistar, and Viaplay.
Ronaldo, an avid supporter and investor in padel, is leveraging his massive digital reach to bring the emerging sport to a global audience. With over a billion followers across his various social media accounts, he remains the most-followed athlete in the world. His entry into YouTube last year saw him amass around 50 million subscribers in just a week, further solidifying his influence as a media powerhouse.
Reports indicate that Ronaldo is not receiving payment for streaming the live event, which is currently taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and concludes on Monday, February 17. This Premier Padel tournament is the first of 24 scheduled for the year, with the season finale set to take place in Barcelona in December.
This strategic move by Premier Padel aligns with a broader trend in sports content distribution, where top athletes increasingly function as media brands and content creators. In many cases, individual sports stars now command larger followings and generate better engagement than the teams and leagues they represent.
Historically, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have had strained diplomatic relations, which notably affected sports broadcasting rights when Saudi-backed beoutQ pirated Qatari broadcaster BeIN Sports’ programming in 2017. However, recent years have seen a thaw in tensions, and this latest collaboration could be a reflection of their aligning interests.