Sports and entertainment park added to Dubai’s free zones

UK Sports Pics Ltd/Alamy

• Global sports brands targeted
• Sport worth $2.5bn a year to Dubai
• Fierce international competition

Dubai is adding a sports and entertainment business park to its more than 30 free zones.

The International Sports and Entertainment Free Zone (ISEZA), which will be housed inside the existing Dubai World Trade Centre free zone, will compete with similar sports technology business parks in Saudi Arabia, Singapore and even Israel.

Dubai’s free zones are focused on sectors including finance, technology and media. 

They offer businesses a range of incentives including corporate tax exemption and currency exchange freedom. 

Perhaps the most critical is the possibility of 100 percent foreign ownership, unlike much of the rest of the UAE. where foreign ownership has historically been capped at 49 percent.

“There is already a battle of the sports zones taking place across the world,” said sports expert Professor Simon Chadwick of Salford University in Manchester, an AGBI columnist. “This is a rapidly emerging sphere in which countries are working to build global competitive advantages in sport.” 

Saudi Arabia, for instance, is developing its $9.8 billion Qiddaya entertainment and sports giga-project to include a Formula One-grade car-racing track. The Singapore Sports Hub is a 35-hectare public-private partnership that contains the new National Stadium. Israel, with which the UAE now has a peace accord, is also developing a sports technology startup centre.

ISEZA’s aim is to host a wide range of industry players, including global sports brands, leagues, agencies, influencers, and investors. The sports zone will be located in One Central, in Dubai’s business district, next to the Dubai Museum of the Future.

Damir Valeev, CEO of ISEZA, said the zone could have a “major” social impact on Dubai and the wider region through the development of sports exhibitions, museums and academic programmes.

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Dubai’s sports industry contributes approximately $2.5 billion a year to the emirate’s economy, Government of Dubai data shows.

Dubai and the wider UAE’s biggest sports events include the Dubai Desert Classic in golf, the Dubai World Cup in horse-racing and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

CLV Group, a data and insights company for sport, media and entertainment based in the UK, said there were 35 million active sports fans in the Gulf Arab region, in that they do more than just follow a sport home page on social channels but “consume” live sport and documentary content multiple times per week.

In addition, there are 25 million people who are fans of music, art and entertainment with the same level of engagement.

CLV’s CEO, Neil Joyce, said: “Any organisation looking to grow its fanbase will see this as an opportunity to expand and engage new audiences.”