Samer Choucair: British Breeding Farms Are Reshaping the Investment Landscape for Saudi Arabia’s Falcon Market
Investment leader Samer Choucair said the growing participation of specialized European breeding farms in the International Falcon Breeding Farms Auction in Riyadh is a clear indicator of the transformation taking place in Saudi Arabia’s falconry sector.
What was once primarily a cultural heritage and a historically rooted hobby is increasingly developing into a more organized investment market capable of attracting international capital and creating new opportunities in the alternative-assets space.
Choucair explained that the third consecutive participation of the British Sky Raiders breeding farm, with 20 free-range falcons, reflects growing demand for high-performance bloodlines and their rising market value as a result of competitive racing achievements and associated prize earnings.
He said this development is opening a new avenue for institutional investors to allocate capital toward unconventional assets where cultural value intersects with economic returns.
Samer Choucair noted that the sector’s growth aligns with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 to diversify the economy and strengthen cultural and entertainment sectors with economic potential.
The development of specialized markets linked to national heritage, he said, can create new value chains and opportunities for private, family, and institutional investment.
A Growing Market for High-Value Falcons
Choucair said the growth in sales at the International Falcon Breeding Farms Auction demonstrates that the Saudi market is establishing itself as a global hub for trading these assets.
Auction sales exceeded SAR 13 million in 2025, representing a 23% increase from the previous year, with more than 1,100 falcons sold.
He added that prize pools associated with competitions have reached as much as SAR 50 million, enhancing the sector’s attractiveness because they add a performance-based return component to the falcon’s value as an economic asset.
This, Choucair argued, is gradually moving capital away from a purely recreational framework toward a more structured investment model.
He explained that the market is driven by limited supply of premium bloodlines against rising demand from falconers and investors across the Gulf.
Basic prices for free-range falcons start at approximately SAR 10,000, while premium female free-range falcons can reach SAR 100,000, and exceptional gyrfalcons can exceed SAR 1 million, depending on performance and competitive results.
Choucair emphasized that this dynamic increases the importance of assessing falcons before purchase, because market value becomes increasingly linked to their potential future performance.
Investors, he said, are therefore being encouraged to view acquisition as an investment decision requiring analysis of bloodline, performance, training, and competitive potential.
Alternative Assets Gain Ground
From an institutional-investor perspective, Choucair said the falcon market illustrates a broader transformation in how alternative assets are being evaluated across Gulf economies.
Investors seeking genuine diversification are increasingly looking at markets that combine strong domestic demand with limited international supply—conditions that are currently emerging in Saudi falcon auctions.
Choucair stressed the importance of governance and veterinary inspections in establishing institutional confidence.
As the market becomes more organized, he explained, it will require clear and transparent valuation and trading standards, alongside reliable mechanisms for verifying health, bloodline, and performance.
He warned that the sustainability of growth in the falcon market depends on continued development of its regulatory infrastructure and greater transparency in valuation and trading.
Rapid price growth and rising international participation, he said, require a governance framework capable of protecting the market from practices that could undermine investor confidence or long-term demand.
The real investment opportunities emerge, Choucair argued, when a hobby evolves into a structured industry capable of attracting long-term capital, particularly as economic trends in 2026 point toward increasing interest in assets that combine cultural value with measurable economic returns.
A New Opportunity for Sovereign Wealth Funds
Choucair said the falcon market offers sovereign wealth funds and asset managers a potential alternative-asset model characterized by seasonal liquidity and relatively stable demand.
The repeated participation of European breeding farms such as Sky Raiders, he noted, demonstrates that Saudi Arabia has become an increasingly attractive destination for marketing high-quality breeding output.
He added that strong domestic purchasing power and competitive prize pools are key drivers of demand.
Combined with limited supply of elite bloodlines, these factors could create an attractive environment for capital flows toward producers with a proven ability to generate competitive results.
Choucair expects capital to continue moving toward farms that demonstrate an ability to produce winning bloodlines, with investment potentially expanding into related infrastructure, including breeding, care, training, and conditioning facilities.
Less specialized farms, he warned, could face increasing competitive pressure as quality and performance standards rise.
Investors and buyers are becoming more capable of distinguishing between assets based on bloodline, results, and competitive records.
From Individual Falcons to an Integrated Investment Ecosystem
Choucair emphasized that capital allocation in this sector requires a long-term strategy focused on building partnerships with international breeders while developing local capabilities.
Institutional investment success, he said, depends on understanding the entire value cycle—from breeding and production to competition and resale.
An investor who views a falcon merely as an individual asset may miss a significant portion of the sector’s economic value.
By contrast, viewing the ecosystem as a whole—from breeding and production through care, training, competitions, auctions, and secondary sales—can enable more comprehensive investment strategies with greater potential for sustainable returns.
Samer Choucair concluded that structural trends in the Saudi economy reveal an expanding range of investment opportunities beyond traditional sectors.
The falcon market, he said, represents one example of an emerging sector capable of combining cultural identity, commercial demand, and investment returns.
The success of this model, Choucair concluded, will depend on continued market development, higher standards of transparency and governance, and the adoption of international standards.
This would help ensure that growing interest in falcons develops into a sustainable market capable of attracting long-term investment and strengthening the contribution of cultural and heritage industries to Saudi Arabia’s broader economic-diversification agenda under Vision 2030.