Faisal Al-Raisi is the Director of Digital for MENA at beIN MEDIA GROUP (‘beIN’). After graduating with a BA in Electronic and Communication Engineering from the University of Leeds, Faisal started his career as a Telecom Engineer at Ooredoo Qatar. However, his passion for sports led him to beIN in 2013 when the Company was still in the start-up phase.
10 years on and beIN is now the MENA region’s leading sports & entertainment broadcaster. Faisal leads a team of 33 digital experts and is responsible for the extensive digital broadcast and digital publishing of all beIN’s productions that encompass 32 sports and 11 entertainment channels. This includes a 24-hour digital publishing operation on 7 social media platforms, beIN’s corporate, sports & OTT websites, 3 applications and OTT streaming service- beIN CONNECT.
Under his leadership, beIN’s digital offering has grown exponentially. Faisal has been instrumental in beIN’s digital transformation journey that has included the introduction of online services and sales channels, on top of the fact that beIN SPORTS is now one of highest followed brands in MENA with a massive 70m followers across the Company’s social media channels.
Faisal oversees the digital strategy for more than 20 of beIN’s core premium rights including the EPL, UEFA competitions, NBA, Olympics, AFC tournaments, Grand Slams, ATP & WTA tournaments, FIFA competitions, including what he considers the highlight of his career- the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM.
Throughout the 28 days of the world’s biggest football event last year, beIN’s social media channels recorded 5.5bn impressions, 1.1bn video views, 400m million engagements, 33m watched hours and thousands of videos and articles were posted. Moreover, Faisal oversaw the launch of the region’s first 4K OTT channel to ensure all 64 matches were streamed in the highest possible quality. With 22 matches broadcast live free-to-air, Faisal ensured beIN SPORTS’ YouTube Channel and beIN CONNECT met the huge viewer demand. During the final, beIN’s live YouTube stream alone pulled in a cumulative viewership of 25m and set a new MENA record with 4.4m simultaneous viewers at its peak.
Faisal is also determined to play a role in protecting the wider broadcast industry’s intellectual property and for years has been working with partners to fight illegal piracy.
Faisal is a 2018 alumnus of the Qatar Leadership Center, a national programme that aims to develop high-level leadership and management skills among Qatari professionals who hold executive positions.