Sports Tourism and the Model of Salah’s Transfer to Trabzon

Mohamed Salah’s transfer to the Turkish club Trabzonspor is a deal that has shaken the global player transfer market and the traditional practices of clubs signing high-profile players. It represents a unique blend of overwhelming fan passion and the smart, strategic, and entrepreneurial investment mindset that characterizes the “Egyptian King,” alongside Turkish entrepreneurs and investors.

After years of playing in England’s relatively quiet stadiums, it seems Salah was searching for a new spark of passion. Turkish stadiums are renowned for their loud, frantic atmospheres, and playing for a club that represents an entire city like Trabzon guarantees Salah a daily adrenaline rush. This keeps him under positive pressure to perform at his best while offering us a new model for entrepreneurship and sports tourism—a story I will attempt to summarize in a few scenes.

Scene One: An Unprecedented Royal Welcome

Thousands of Trabzonspor fans donned the team’s jersey and gathered at the gates and perimeter of the city’s airport since the dawn of his arrival day. Crowds blocked the surrounding roads amidst a frenzied atmosphere of chants, flags, and flares to welcome the “Egyptian King” the moment he stepped out of the arrival hall.

Scene Two: A Terrifyingly Massive Presence at the Signing Ceremony

Around 25,000 fans filled the stands, coming specifically to celebrate him and welcome his joining of the team. These massive numbers turned the presentation night into a historic football festival, the likes of which the city had never seen in its history.

Scene Three: Salah’s Strategic Mindset as a “Professional” Entrepreneur

The transfer of a player of Mohamed Salah’s stature to the Turkish League after a legendary career with Liverpool was not random. Rather, it was built on clever strategic dimensions:

• The First Dimension: Seeking a “Champion’s Project”: Salah is not looking to be just a cog in an already complete machine or a highly successful team. Trabzonspor is classified as the “fourth power” in Turkey after the Istanbul trio (Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe, and Beşiktaş). Leading this team toward the podiums and competing against the big clubs gives Salah the opportunity to write an epic new success story to add to his history—just as he did when he brought Liverpool back to the championship podiums after a long absence.
• The Second Dimension: Remaining in the European Competitive Arena: Trabzonspor finished last season in third place, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League knockout stages. This means Salah will remain under the European spotlight and close to high-level football passion—a decisive factor for a player wishing to maintain full technical and physical fitness to lead the Egyptian national team. Before choosing Trabzonspor, Salah received offers from several prominent clubs but preferred Trabzonspor.
• The Third Dimension: Rare Economic and Marketing Intelligence: The two-year contract was drafted to include a huge salary of 17 million euros per season, in addition to 20% of the profits from the merchandise bearing his name as a commercial partnership. This is a clever investment clause that compensates for financial variations and maximizes his value as a global brand.
• The Fourth Dimension: The Strategic Mindset of the Turkish Club Trabzonspor: The city of Trabzon—the “Pearl of the Black Sea”—combines green mountains, fresh lakes, Black Sea views, and an extended history, making it one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in Turkey and the world. However, it needed a global brand to market it. Salah’s arrival in the city generated an immediate boom in club sales and fantastic revenues within just three days of the deal’s announcement. Around 12 million euros came from the sales of the new season tickets and the frantic demand for the club shirts bearing Mohamed Salah’s name and image.

The Revival of Sports and Entertainment Tourism

Trabzon is already a leading natural tourist destination, but Salah’s presence adds the dimension of “sports tourism.” The joining of a player of Salah’s weight—who has won the UEFA Champions League and the English Premier League—automatically raises the market value and global branding of Trabzonspor. This leads to a leap in broadcasting subscription demands for Trabzonspor matches and an increase in TV broadcasting revenues.

Salah’s presence will contribute to filling hotels and restaurants and attracting investments, particularly Gulf investments that follow the player and prefer Turkey as a safe investment destination. In short, upon signing for Trabzonspor, Mohamed Salah instantly transformed into an “integrated economic engine” for the city; he successfully stimulated the commercial, tourism, and marketing sectors before even playing his first official match with the team.

For example, the town of Sürmene in Trabzon is famous for its traditional knife manufacturing, which is one of the oldest and most authentic handicrafts in Europe. The utilizing of Mohamed Salah in marketing began from the very first moment; the city’s mayor gifted Salah a collection of knives from the town, serving as one of the first promotional campaigns highlighting this industry as soon as it appeared in the media.

Sports entrepreneurs are redefining everything in sports—especially football—into economic value. They have successfully innovated “sports tourism,” where the football player produces an “international brand” and the monthly salary becomes “percentages of revenues.” Without even discussing the establishment of a commercial company to manage the World Cup and other FIFA tournaments, things are already beginning to change at a rapid pace.

Mohamed Salah has proven once again that he does not manage his career with his feet alone, but with a conscious entrepreneurial, investment, and sporting mindset. While it is possible that some of these practices we discussed have been carried out by players and clubs before, the current model, the expansion of investment practices, the utilization of the brand, and the massive returns are all factors announcing the birth of a promising new economic sector: the sports tourism sector, and more broadly, entrepreneurship that marries sports, travel, and tourism.

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Dr. Atef El-Shabrawy
Professor of Entrepreneurship