Saudi Arabia to welcome women’s nonstop action sports channel

September 12, 2025

All Women’s Sports Network (AWSN) will launch a dedicated women’s sports channel in Saudi Arabia on Friday in partnership with the country’s football federation and national broadcaster Saudi Sports Company.

Co-founded by Oscar-winning actor and comedian Whoopi Goldberg, AWSN was launched late last year as the first global media channel dedicated exclusively to showcasing women’s sports.

The 24-hour “SSC AWSN” channel will be available in the kingdom via the MBC Shahid streaming platform from Friday, an AWSN spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday.

Female athletes were for many years an untapped reservoir of talent in the conservative Islamic state, with girls banned from participating in sport at public schools until 2017 and women not allowed into sports stadiums until the following year.

The policies were reversed under the influence of Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family and Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States. Bangkok Post