The Middle East's sports and entertainment scene is rapidly evolving. As consumers demand more entertainment the field grows more competitive, and the rise of sports events has forced existing right-holders and brands in the UAE and the rest of the GCC to assess and fine-tune their offerings.

Sports data has become useful and a crucial part of all business decision-making processes in Europe and North America, where fierce industrial competition has grown over decades. Each year, major brands and rights holders make significant investments in data and knowledge to equip themselves with business information. Such similar evolvements are seen in the Middle East as well, where the niche industry is now becoming a booming sector. 

The Middle East's prominence in sports has undoubtedly increased in recent years thanks to strong government support and increasing commercial maturity. Up until this point, examples of prestigious athletic events include:

• Formula One Grand Prix Abu Dhabi 
• Formula One Grand Prix Bahrain
• Dubai World Cup
• The Saudi Cup 
• Mubadala World Tennis Championship
• Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship
• Aramco Saudi Ladies International
• Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship
• Major UFC Events (UFC Island)

On November 2021, Saudi Arabia even hosted the Formula One Grand Prix, and for the first time, Qatar also played host to the FIFA World Cup in 2022. The Asian Games will also be held in Saudi Arabia in 2034 and Qatar in 2030, respectively.

The Middle East trends have even shown that eSports and football have the highest potential for revenue. The three major enablers, that will be crucial for the Middle Eastern sports industry in the years to come would be, the rise of eSports, the ability of sports federations to cash in on their popularity, and the ability of women's sports to transform society through the creation of digital assets in the digital age.

Data-driven digital approach provides a significant opportunity to interact with fans

The digital fan experience is a top priority for sports leaders in the Middle East. However, only a small number of organizations have so far been able to deliver it in a way that enables them to attract and keep fans over the long term. The COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented fans from traveling to games in many countries and forced major events like the Olympic Games to be postponed until 2021, served as a catalyst for the development of immersive and interactive technologies as a means of making up for the loss of visual and social experiences with sport.

Despite being at a younger stage than its international counterparts when it comes to this topic, the Middle Eastern sports industry is well aware of the opportunities: their digital assets owned by sports organizations have received increased engagement and revenue over the years, particularly by leveraging the growing demand for short-form and on-demand content. The UAE's Jiu-Jitsu Federation is a prime example of how to better utilize digital assets to raise organizational performance. The UAEJJF has collaborated with Nielsen Sports to create a more data-driven strategy and gain better knowledge of how to draw in more spectators, keep them interested, and boost the federation's performance.

Learning from this, sports organizations should adopt an integrated transformation strategy that balances visible, fan-facing innovation (such as immersive features) with more profound, structural modifications to their operational processes and back-end infrastructure (e.g. data and cloud capabilities) to be successful in this field. 

Using the eSports opportunity to your advantage

In the Middle East, where the majority of people are young and tech-savvy and the weather is frequently too hot for outdoor sports, eSports is a natural fit. With $716 million in gaming revenue, Saudi Arabia is among the top 20 nations, followed by the UAE ($313 million) and Egypt ($287 million). So, it is not surprising that trends showcase eSports have high-income growth potential, level with football. Sports leaders are starting to give eSports a strategic priority as a result of the industry's astonishing expansion, and engagement levels have increased dramatically over the past two to three years.

For instance, to create a Saudi eSports industry, the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports and Global eSports Resources teamed up in 2018. The growing esports fan base also creates opportunities to draw in new viewers, business partners, and ultimately, revenue streams. Formula One, for instance, has already taken action on this by providing an eSports league where gamers may enter and compete and participants even include actual F1 drivers.

According to Nielsen Sports, Sports data feeds demand will continue to rise as the Middle Eastern market continues to develop and innovate and more difficult decisions must be made. As is the case in Europe and North America, brands and rights holders will both rely on data to make more informed daily decisions.

If you are looking for a reliable Sports data API for the Middle East, you have come to the right place! Data Sports Group has specialized in offering high-quality, content-rich Sports data API that would drive your platform ahead. Leading you to take advantage of the growing market in the Middle East and establish an early presence.