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Saudi ambassador Princess Reema joins All Women's Sports Network as adviser

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud, has taken an advisory role at All Women's Sports Network (AWSN), which plans festivals in the Middle East and elsewhere from 2027.

2 outlets · 0L · 1C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: CNA
Image: Arab News

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The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud, has joined All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) in an advisory role, as the media company seeks to expand coverage of women's sports in the Middle East and beyond. Mixed · 2AWSN, a sports media platform co-founded by actor Whoopi Goldberg, said her appointment would support efforts to give female athletes greater international exposure. Mixed · 2AWSN Chief Executive George Chung told Reuters that Princess Reema's advocacy for women and girls in sport made the partnership a natural fit, saying: "What she understands is that sports is a catalyst for change."

Mixed · 2Chung said AWSN planned its first sports festival in the Middle East in the first quarter of 2027, combining games, training camps, entertainment and retail experiences to give local athletes access to international players and to create programming for the network. Mixed · 2The company plans at least four festivals globally next year, including events in Saudi Arabia, the US and Britain, he said. Mixed · 2The appointment comes as Saudi Arabia continues to invest in women's sports under its Vision 2030 reform agenda; the Saudi Women's Premier League, launched in 2022, has sought to build a more professional structure for women's football, and AWSN began airing its matches last year.

Mixed · 2Chung said AWSN had faced no restrictions on its programming in the region, pointing to investment in women's teams, facilities and broadcasts as evidence of growing support for female athletes. Mixed · 2He said viewing of Saudi women's soccer on AWSN had grown steadily, with audiences rising 20 to 30 per cent per game and average viewing time up nearly 50 per cent over the season, and that AWSN drew 1.5 million viewers in its first 10 days on Pakistan's Tamasha platform. Centre · 1The CNA version adds that Saudi Arabia's sports investment has drawn criticism from rights groups and others who say the country uses high-profile events to improve its international image; the Arab News version does not include this.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Straightforward report on the appointment, based on Reuters' interview with AWSN's CEO, with added context on criticism of Saudi sports spending.
Emphasis
Chung's statements, festival plans and audience figures, plus the rights-groups criticism.
Leaves out or plays down
Nothing significant beyond the Arab News text; it is the fuller version.
For example
“Saudi Arabia's sports investment has also drawn criticism from rights groups and others who say the country uses high-profile events to improve its international image.” — CNA

Right1 outlet

Framing
Reuters copy carried by Arab News, presenting the appointment as a positive expansion of women's sports coverage.
Emphasis
Chung's account of growth in viewing and support for female athletes, and the Vision 2030 context.
Leaves out or plays down
Leaves out the paragraph on rights groups' criticism that Saudi Arabia uses sports to improve its image.
For example
“Chung said AWSN had faced no restrictions on its programming in the region and pointed to investment in women’s teams, facilities and broadcasts as evidence of growing support for female athletes.” — Arab News