사우디, 엔터테인먼트 산업 제도화 본격화... 새 「엔터테인먼트 활동 및 지원 활동법」 제정

Since cinemas reopened in 2018, Saudi Arabia's entertainment industry has grown rapidly. Large-scale festivals such as Riyadh Season, international concerts, and live performances have become part of everyday cultural life. According to the General Entertainment Authority's (GEA) 2025 annual regulatory report, visitors to Saudi Arabia's entertainment sector topped 89 million in 2025, with 1,690 events held over 75,661 event-days across the year — a sharp expansion in the scale of the industry.

The GEA is the government body established to nurture and manage the entertainment industry as part of the Vision 2030 push. Saudi Arabia has actively courted major performances and international events to grow the market, but the legal foundation covering the industry as a whole has, by comparison, arrived relatively late.

The "Entertainment Activities and Supporting Activities Law," approved by the Saudi government on 16 June 2026 and published in the Umm Al-Qura Gazette on 3 July, marks a shift from a phase of purely quantitative growth to one of formal institutionalisation. The law was approved via Royal Order No. M/12 (issued 22 June 2026) and Cabinet Decision No. 18, and is due to take effect 180 days after its gazette publication.

From Administrative Regulation to a National Legal Framework

Until now, Saudi Arabia's entertainment industry has operated primarily under licensing and oversight rules set by the GEA. Regulations released in 2023 were likewise administrative standards governing the licensing, supervision, and inspection procedures for entertainment activities and supporting services. This new law is significant in that it gives the existing licensing system a statutory, national-law basis and a foundation for operating it as an integrated management framework.

Source — Umm Al-Qura Gazette, Entertainment Activities and Supporting Activities Law (3 Jul 2026)

The law's stated purpose is to regulate entertainment and supporting activities and to promote industry development and service quality. It defines entertainment activities as covering amusement parks, entertainment centres, entertainment events, and live performances, while supporting activities include crowd/audience management and booking/ticketing services. Private events and performances not open to the general public are excluded from the law's scope.

Administrative requirements differ by business type: operating amusement parks or entertainment centres requires a licence, while holding events or live performances requires a permit. Supporting-service providers offering crowd management or ticketing must obtain certification from the GEA — meaning that not only event organisers but also ticketing platforms and crowd-management companies are now explicitly subject to regulation under the law.

The GEA may also classify operators and activities by technical qualification, operational efficiency, and service quality, and issue certification accordingly. The new law is thus expected to go beyond simply determining whether a business may operate, and to also play a role in setting quality benchmarks and industry standards for entertainment services.

An Industry Oversight Regime with Codified Sanctions

Source — Umm Al-Qura Gazette, Entertainment Activities and Supporting Activities Law (3 Jul 2026)

The new law also spells out the GEA's supervisory and enforcement powers in detail. The GEA may suspend entertainment or supporting activities — in whole or in part, permanently or temporarily — where there is a risk to public safety or health, a violation of regulations, or where it judges suspension necessary in the public interest.

GEA-affiliated inspectors are empowered to enter business premises and facilities to examine relevant records and materials and to receive reports and complaints, and may draw on the cooperation of other relevant agencies as needed. Businesses found in violation, however, must be given a period to remedy the issue before formal sanctions are imposed.

Violations can draw a warning, a fine of up to SAR 1 million (approx. KRW 385 million), a business suspension of up to five years, and the suspension or revocation of licences, permits, or certifications. The law also enshrines an avenue for redress: operators may appeal a violations committee's decision to the Administrative Court within 60 days of notification.

The GEA may additionally levy a charge of up to 10% on ticket-sale revenue from entertainment activities. The specific criteria for applying this charge are to be set out in implementing regulations, but it is seen as a provision with real potential to affect revenue structures and ticket-pricing policy for event promoters, organisers, and ticketing platforms.

What It Means for Korea's Cultural Industry

This law is also a significant shift for Korean performance and content companies looking to enter the Saudi entertainment market. Operators pursuing K-pop concerts, musicals, or other live performances are now more likely to need to confirm not just their own event permit but whether local partners hold the required licences, how ticket sales are structured, and whether crowd-management vendors are certified. Private events and performances not open to the general public remain outside the law's scope, so the nature and public/private status of an event should be reviewed in advance to determine which permits are actually required.

Details such as licence-application procedures, processing standards, and how the ticket levy will be applied are to be set out in implementing regulations due within 180 days of the gazette publication. The practical workings of the system, and the specific standards that will apply to operators, should become clearer once those regulations are in place.

Where Saudi Arabia's entertainment policy since 2018 has focused on attracting new performances and events and expanding the market, this new law is seen as a turning point — an effort to bring institutional management to a rapidly grown industry and set it on a sustainable footing.