RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Qatar’s BeIN Media Group, a sports broadcaster once banned in Saudi Arabia, has signed a strategic partnership with a media company from the kingdom, people familiar with the deal said, illustrating the shifting geopolitics of the Middle East ahead of the first FIFA World Cup in the region.

BeIN has appointed Saudi Media Co., an advertising sales agency connected to the Saudi government, as the broadcaster’s exclusive advertising partner in the Middle East and North Africa, the people said. Saudi Media will sell advertising on BeIN, guaranteeing the Qatari platform annual sales revenue, these people said.

Saudi Arabia and its Middle East allies mounted an economic boycott of Qatar until last year, prohibiting BeIN sports from selling its set-top boxes in the kingdom. BeIN accused Saudi Arabia of running a state-backed piracy operation to steal its content, and lobbied against the kingdom’s purchase of English Premier League soccer team Newcastle United.

In January last year, the Gulf states patched up their differences with prodding from the U.S., and the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund later sealed a bid to buy Newcastle. 

Still, the deal between Saudi Media and BeIN marks a major turnaround in relations between the countries as they shift from a frosty rapprochement to proactively engaging on commercial ties.

Saudi Media’s Chief Executive Khalid Alkhudair declined to comment. Spokespeople for BeIN didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Qatar-based BeIN is one of the English Premier League’s largest buyers of television rights, shelling out some $500 million for the most recent three-year cycle of rights for the Middle East and North Africa region. It is also the exclusive broadcaster for the FIFA World Cup and other soccer leagues in the Middle East.

 
Saudi Media is closely linked to the government. The firm has a joint venture with MBC Group, one of the Gulf region’s biggest broadcasters, seized by the government during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s anticorruption purge in 2017 when he locked up Saudi businessmen and royals in the Ritz-Carlton hotel, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the LinkedIn profiles of Saudi Media executives, the firm is the exclusive media sales representative for the government-owned Saudi Broadcasting Authority, as well as Saudi Research and Media Group, controlled by the Saudi government.

Saudi Arabia, in recent years, has invested in a series of sports ventures, including Newcastle United, and most notably a golf initiative that has challenged the supremacy of the U.S. PGA Tour, upending the industry. Saudi Media Co. earlier this year was a failed bidder for Chelsea Football Club.

“This is just the appetizer,” said Mazen Hayek, a media consultant and former spokesman for MBC Group, regarding the deal between BeIN and Saudi Media. “The main dish could well lead to the two parties jointly acquiring sports rights and assets around the world, and even merging parts of their media businesses,” he said.

The commercial maneuvering by the one-time rivals comes a month before Qatar hosts the first soccer World Cup in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia’s national carrier is planning matchday shuttle flights to Doha, the Qatari capital, and back within 24 hours, helping ease an accommodation crunch in the host country.

Saudi Arabia, whose national team is playing in Doha, and the United Arab Emirates—one of the other Gulf states that led the blockade of Qatar—are expected to benefit from millions of visitors to the region.