EAGL promises to benefit players and sponsors

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

With a total gross expenditure already estimated to be $270 million, constituting nearly a quarter of total sports expenditure, the golf scene in Dubai is expected to get another impetus with the launch of Emirates Amateur Golf League (EAGL), the world’s first franchise-based amateur league tournament.

With its unique concept, the EAGL promises to be much more than just a competitive and exciting sporting event. The whole tournament is designed to be a solid and profitable business investment, targeting one of the most desirable audience for any marketer – high net worth individuals, corporate big-wigs and entrepreneurs.

The UAE being a melting pot of various cultures and nationalities with some of the finest golfing infrastructures in the world, there can be no better place than Dubai to host the world’ first franchise-based amateur golf league.

Launched on Jan.20 in a spectacular unveiling ceremony at Dubai Golf Creek and Yacht Club, the inaugural season of the EAGL is scheduled to be held across four iconic UAE golf courses in November this year. It will involve eight team of 24 amateurs each, competing on a round-robin basis.

The tournament, sanctioned by the Emirates Golf Federation (EGF), will add several million dollars to that overall figure, without counting the intangible benefits and opportunity costs for team owners and companies associated with the league.

Sudesh Aggarwal, the brain behind the EAGL and its Chairman, is leaving no stones unturned to make EAGL a profitable venture for all the stakeholders.

With the organisers taking care of most staging and organising costs, the initial tangible benefits are working out to be close to one million dollars.

“With an estimated economic impact of golf tourism in Dubai at $38m ( Deloitte report) there is no arguing that golf plays a major growth catalyst for the Dubai’s sports and events scenario. EAGL has been conceptualized to capitalize on this growth story and has hypothesized the league to feature nine match days in its first series, with each round offering marketing, hospitality and networking benefits for the investors. And the media benefits are going to be huge as the EAGL will be broadcast live (40 hours in the inaugural year),”said Aggarwal.

“I am expecting elite amateur participants from foreign countries, especially places like the UK and India,” said Aggarwal.

“Keeping these facts and figures in mind we have set an aim of reaching 670,000 residents of the UAE and 1.5 million golf fans globally. The media partnerships and the channels have been worked out in such a manner that we will easily cross these numbers,” said Priyaa Kumria, League Administrator of EAGL.

“We have also made sure that the EAGL becomes meaningful for all those involved throughout the year. I want it to be something that forces the teams and the team owners to get better and feel proud about what they have achieved. And, most importantly, I want our team owners and sponsors to get the maximum bang for the buck that they were spending.” added the Chairman of the EAGL.

Dubai ranks on the top 25 in the sports cities ranking in the world and such local leagues promote the sporting spirit in UAE. EAGL will serve both the players and the investors, as well as the golf and tourism industry in the UAE. The participants are going to experience an almost professional tournament-like atmosphere, starting from the way the golf course is set up, to corporate hospitality lounges to live broadcast.

“I have no doubts in my mind that the most important stakeholders for the sustainability of EAGL are the team holders and the leading sponsors.

“Golf is more than a sport. it is a lifestyle statement that brands would like to associate with. The sense of luxury associated with the sport, played by HNI and watched by the exclusive high-end audience is a draw by itself,” said Aggarwal, who is an avid golfer and the founder of the multi-million-dollar Giant Group of Industries.