A study titled «Maximising the Economic and Social Returns of the Kingdom's Hosting of Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup» came under discussion at the twelfth edition of the Riyadh Economic Forum 2026, where participants put the induced national output of the two events at roughly SAR 996.7 billion and net domestic output at about SAR 665.3 billion, figures that frame the scale of the opportunity rather than guarantee its yield.
The paper's central argument is that the size of the return is decided less by the volume of spending than by how well that spending is deployed, and by whether the national economy can hold on to the value it generates and convert it into durable investment, expertise and jobs. That reading places the legal and contractual architecture of major projects on the same footing as their economic planning, from the way investment is structured and risks and responsibilities are allocated, to governance arrangements that protect rights and keep disputes and unforeseen costs in check. Planning for how assets will be used after the events, the study adds, belongs at the earliest design stage rather than at the end of the delivery cycle.
Because the two events differ in nature, the study treats them separately: much of Expo 2030's productive impact sits in the operating and hosting phase, which calls for contractual and investment frameworks aligned with the project lifecycle, stronger local content and a larger role for national firms in supply chains and knowledge transfer so that more of the value stays inside the domestic economy. The 2034 World Cup, by contrast, extends well beyond stadiums and facilities into the sports investment system, commercial and marketing rights, sponsorship, venue operations and public-private partnerships, all of which need clear regulation, institutional governance and professional contract and risk management to sustain investor confidence over the long term.
Discussions across the forum's files, including urban traffic congestion, legislative questions and knowledge transfer, converged on the importance of early preparation and of coordinated roles between public bodies and the private sector. The harder test, as the study frames it, is measuring success beyond completed projects and staged events to include asset sustainability, the competitiveness of national companies, investment growth, skills development and the continuity of economic and social impact, with transparent disclosure of results and periodic review of contracts and investments as the main safeguards for accountability and spending discipline.
Turning the opportunity into something lasting, the paper concludes, requires the legal dimension to be built into planning and execution from the outset rather than brought in afterwards to settle disputes, so that legal expertise, investment understanding and sector knowledge combine into more efficient frameworks for protecting capital and extending the value well beyond 2030 toward 2050.