Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Alalshikh continues to make his mark on combat sports, and we’re seeing that in the media space as well as in fights and events.
Alalshikh purchased the famed The Ring magazine last November and has recently made some big hires. That company has now struck a deal with digital boxing creator Wade Plemons. The deal will see Plemons bring his The W.A.D.E Concept podcast to The Ring and distribute it by The Volume’s podcast network.
Plemons has made his presence felt on YouTube, where his channel has more than 390,000 subscribers. But he’s active on other social platforms as well, with a release noting that his podcast “averages more than two million views per month across YouTube, Instagram and X.”
Under this new deal with The Ring, Plemons will continue to air his show on his YouTube channel at least three times a week. (The first one under this deal airs Monday at 3 p.m. ET.) The deal means the show will also receive further distribution from The Ring and The Volume’s channels. The release also notes that “The show will also broadcast live-streamed watchalongs and enjoy behind-the-scenes access to the leading boxers, their camps, and across the buildup to some of the biggest fight nights.”
This is just the latest move for The Ring since Alalshikh’s November purchase of the publication from Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. Shortly after that deal, for a reported $10 million, Alalshikh brought back a print version of the publication (it had gone digital-only in 2022, 100 years after its founding as a magazine). He’s also since made a number of splashy hires, including bringing in key boxing insider Mike Coppinger and editor Elizabeth Baugh from ESPN. And this partnership with Plemons significantly bolsters The Ring‘s presence on the digital show side.
The moves with The Ring are just part of Alalshikh and Saudi Arabia’s tremendous influence in combat sports. Alalshikh has locked up some key fighters, particularly Saul “Canelo” Álvarez (signed to a four-fight deal in February), and is putting on events in Saudi Arabia and beyond (several of which are under The Ring‘s banner, including a Chris Eubank-Conor Benn headlined event at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on April 26 and a May 2 event in Times Square headlined by Ryan Garcia vs. Rolando Romero).
Alalshikh and the Saudi government are also funding the new boxing league under the auspices of UFC/WWE parent company TKO, which fits in with Alalshikh’s past work with the UFC and WWE.
