Sporting Excellence
ELEMENTS: How does Aramco drive sporting excellence?
Global April 06, 2026 - By
Community Champions
From early sand golf courses to today’s global partnerships, our involvement in sports reflects our dedication to advancing well-being.
- Aramco has promoted sport since its early years of operation
- We have fostered the growth of community sports, nurturing talent and promoting active lifestyles
- We now aim to advance a culture of excellence globally through sponsorship of major sporting events and by forming long-term partnerships with leading motorsport and sports leagues.
Since our early years of operation, Aramco has sought to create opportunities that benefit Saudi Arabia and the global communities where we operate. As good corporate citizens, we seek to grow societal value wherever we operate, engaging in community development, and environmental stewardship to make a tangible, positive impact on people’s lives.
One of the ways in which we are doing this is by helping promote sports, which have a proven positive effect on the mental, physical, and social well-being of individuals.
From building the first golf courses in Saudi Arabia to now sponsoring motorsports like Formula 1® and team sports like football, cricket, and basketball — both at the community and international levels — we remain deeply passionate about promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports.
Let us explore how our journey in sport began.
Inspiring champions
Our association with sport dates back to the early 1940s, when some of our early workers built a nine-hole sand course to play golf on a vast tract of land in Dhahran. Without access to traditional turf or grass, they improvised, creating smooth putting surfaces using compacted sand.
As our operations grew over the next few years, an influx of expatriate workers arrived in the Kingdom with their families, bringing not only their professional expertise but also a passion for sports. As golf gained popularity, we built several golf courses for our employees and their families in residential communities near our oil and gas fields in Abqaiq, Ras Tanura, and 'Udhailiyah.
We did this not only to promote our employees’ well-being but also to foster a healthy work-life balance. On the field, our people found a shared purpose and mutual respect — often carrying it into the workplace. In a company that was rapidly growing, sport became a unifying force for both our Saudi workers and those who came to work in Saudi Arabia from different parts of the world, with diverse cultures, languages, and backgrounds.
By the late 1940s, we began formalizing sport within our employee recreation programs. Football — known as soccer in some parts of the world — quickly became another popular sport. In 1948, we expanded football from casual matches into scheduled leagues with referees, rules, and teams. We then applied the same model to other activities: we set up baseball and softball fields, installed basketball and volleyball courts, and added swimming pools and tennis courts to our community centers. This integration embedded sport into the daily life of our employees and their families. Matches and tournaments turned into social gatherings and children joined age-group teams.
In the decades that followed, we created an environment where sport flourished by investing in better sports facilities, walking tracks, and clubhouses in our residential areas. We offered spaces for bowling, running, squash, cricket, and volleyball. Rather than focusing on one sport, we encouraged participation in many.
Community Championships
As the company grew, so did the need to support a more holistic lifestyle for its workforce. Sport was no longer just a weekend hobby; it became central to life in our residential areas.
By the 1960s and '70s, our recreation departments were thriving — organizing leagues, scheduling tournaments, and managing sport facilities. Swimming, playing racquetball, bowling, and running track became part of everyday life.
This legacy of active engagement laid the groundwork for new initiatives in the years that followed. In 2021, we extended the tradition of community sport by launching the Aramco Sports Championship (ASC).
The ASC is a multi-sport engagement platform with a vision to unite employees, families, retirees, and under one championship. The ASC runs for several months and spans 14 cities across Aramco communities, and offers an expanding portfolio of sports (from 20 in its first year to 43 in 2026) that’s open to employees, dependents, retirees, and people with disabilities. Over five editions, the ASC has evolved from an internal wellness and engagement initiative into an inclusive platform that aims to promote health, belonging, and corporate unity — a symbol of putting people at the center of everything we do.
From recreation to pathways
Aramco’s journey in organized sports started with recreational activities aimed at fostering community engagement. As these initiatives matured, the introduction of consistent training, qualified coaches, and tiered competitions paved the way for structured talent development within our communities.
The Eastern Flames Football Club offers a clear example of this progression. Founded in 2006 in the Eastern Province, it was among the first women’s football teams in the Kingdom. What began as a grassroots initiative to provide women and girls with opportunities to train and compete soon evolved into a club capable of competing on the national stage.
By 2025, Eastern Flames had earned a place in the Saudi Women’s Premier League — the Kingdom’s top division — and established itself as a pioneer of the women’s game. The club has also helped individual players advance their careers, further demonstrating how a community-based program opened pathways to national representation.
Football is not the only sport where our communities helped shape national representation. Golf offers another notable example.
While we have long held golf tournaments, leagues, and social events, 2022 marked a new milestone: we hosted our first ever professional tour event, the Aramco Invitational, which welcomed 100 golfers from 40 countries to the Dhahran Hills Golf Course — an 18-hole course situated within the Dhahran residential community.
The event was held in collaboration with the Rolling Hills Golf Club (RHGC), which was established by Aramco in 1949, and was the first golf club in Saudi Arabia.
Taking sports to the next level
We are now combining our rich tradition of involvement in sport with purposeful global partnerships. These partnerships help us build essential global awareness of our commercial offerings, enter new markets, and make the investment partnerships needed for our continued growth. More importantly, through sports, we strive to play an active role in fueling the energy, passion, innovation, and community spirit that sports bring to life.
Our modern sports portfolio is a testament to this legacy and includes:
FIFA:
A global partnership launched in 2024 with the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the governing body of football, to become a FIFA Major Worldwide Partner, which includes the FIFA World Cup 2026™ and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027™. We were also the official energy sponsor of the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champion’s Cup 2026™.
Formula 1® (F1®):
Our partnership with Formula 1® (F1®) as Global Energy Partner since 2020. We have supplied lower-carbon fuels to all cars in Formula 2™ and Formula 3™ and the F1 Academy™ — a racing championship designed to develop young female drivers — since 2024, and will continue to supply this fuel during the 2026 season.
Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™:
A partnership with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team (AMF1). In 2022, we entered into a strategic partnership with AMF1 to integrate resources and research with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team. This partnership demonstrates our shared commitment to engineering excellence and innovation. Our engineers remain focused on developing transportation technologies, such as efficient hybrid internal combustion engines and lower-carbon fuels. As part of this partnership, we will supply FIA-compliant 100% sustainable fuel to the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team starting from the 2026 season.
International Cricket Council (ICC):
Our partnership with the International Cricket Council (ICC), the global governing body for cricket, which includes sponsorship of major men’s and women’s cricket tournaments. This partnership involves promoting community engagement and innovation, like recycling initiatives at events, to connect with cricket fans worldwide.
Chinese Basketball Association (CBA):
A partnership with the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), launched in 2022, which integrates our global sports presence with the CBA's huge fanbase in China, promoting positive sports values and community impact. As part of this partnership, in 2024, we began a rollout of refurbishing and renovating several public basketball courts across the nation using recycled materials.
PIF Global Series and LIV Golf:
Our involvement in golf, which includes our role as a partner of PIF Global Series on the Ladies European Tour since 2021. We are also a global partner of LIV Golf, a professional men’s tour, to support an international golf league featuring a team-based format and tournaments held around the world.
