‘Power of the Game’ podcast which gives listeners the chance to hear more about Saudi Arabia’s growing reputation as golf’s most dynamic market nominated for coveted award

18 January, 2022, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Golf Saudi’s ‘Power of the Game’ podcast has been shortlisted alongside some of the top names in the sports podcasting world ahead of this year’s Sports Podcast Awards.  The inaugural awards which have been launched to honour the work of the very best that the global sports audio community has to offer will take place in March of this year after a rigorous judging process is concluded. 

The ‘Power of the Game’ podcast was launch almost two years ago in 2020 for listeners interested in the rapid development of golf in Saudi Arabia. The podcast series which is hosted by Dubai Eye’s golf obsessive Robbie Greenfield has allowed listeners to get the inside track on Golf Saudi’s latest plans, with information on new and upcoming golf courses, efforts to bring new players into the game as well interviews with some of the game’s best known and famous stakeholders. 
The podcast series features episodes with Jack Nicklaus, focusing on his planned golf courses designs in Saudi Arabia, insights into the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup with Thomas Bjorn and Catriona Matthew, as well as fun interactive conversations with three-time major winner Anna Nordqvist and Golf Legend Gary Player. 

‘The Power of the Game’ underlines Golf Saudi’s ambition and its connectivity to the national Vision 2030 social-economic development programme and will emphasise Saudi Arabia’s role in establishing new global benchmarks across its six pillars: Access and Infrastructure, Events, National Team and Academies, Sustainability, Mass Participation and Tourism. 

Commenting on the podcast’s nomination, Majed Al Sorour, CEO of Golf Saudi and Deputy Chairman of The Saudi Golf Federation, said: 
“To make the shortlist of the first-ever Sports Podcast Awards and our intention from the outset with this series was to allow our listeners to learn more about our over-arching aspirations for golf in the Kingdom. This recognition will provide a valuable boost and recognises our progress in terms of growing the game in Saudi Arabia. More episodes of ‘Power of the Game’ are due to be released later on this year and we hope these stories of the work that we are doing and the passion shown by these individuals shines through and gives our listeners a better view than ever of the scale of our ambition.”

The ‘Power of the Game’ has been shortlisted alongside a further 127 podcasts, from 13 countries and more than 50 different podcast networks. Spread across 24 different categories, podcasts include well-known sports such as football, baseball and golf, as well as others such as combat sports, urban and adventure and winter sports, all of which are well represented.

The Sports Podcast Awards were launched to unite the sports podcast community globally, from elite podcasters to the grassroots, and 61% of entrants to this year’s awards were independent podcasts. Research has shown that sport was by far the fastest growing podcasting category in 2021, with download growth of 89% compared to the previous year. 

With the shortlisted podcasts now in place, it is the turn of the podcasters and listeners themselves to have their say on who deserves to be crowned the winner in each category. Both will have the power to decide, with a unique judging format that makes this a truly democratic process.