A swing and a win
The Emirates Amateur Golf League Mini-Series held last month proved the operational feasibility of the much-anticipated world’s first franchise-based amateur golf league that will be held later this year
There are big plans in store for November’s inaugural season of the Emirates Amateur Golf League (EAGL) – the world’s first franchisebased amateur golf league. A brainchild of Indian businessman Sudesh Aggarwal, the concept has slowly begun to take shape. Earlier this year, EAGL brought in Indian professional golfer Shiv Kapur as brand ambassador, and also appointed Nick Tarratt as Tournament director.
But with an experimental tournament like this one, Aggarwal and EAGL League administrator, Priyaa Kumria, thought it necessary to have a dress rehearsal to test the format and operational flow, as well as the sheer logistics of hosting such a tournament.
To that end, a 9-hole showcase event, called EAGL Mini-Series, was held on June 20 at the Fire Course of the Jumeirah Golf Estates.
The one-day event gave eight four-man teams – namely the Abu Dhabi Roars, Dubai Tigers, English Roses, MENA Golfers, Indian Lions, Emirates Players, Asian Jumbos and European Seves – a chance to compete against one another.
Asian Tour winner Kapur was on hand to hit the ceremonial first tee shot. “I have never seen an amateur golf [event] like this, not even professional golf across the world. The idea is that team golf is always more exciting than individual formats; the colourfulness, the uniforms, you are playing for a team, it’s a nine-hole shootout…it’s very exciting and I think it’s here to stay,” said Kapur of the EAGL format.
The MENA Golfers went up against the Asian Jumbos, captained by Dubai Eye’s Robbie Greenfield, and they got off to a strong start in Match 2 with Deepak Jain beating Bayern Khan 3&1.
All matches featured an additional ‘press match’ where the remaining holes were played out if the match finished before the 18th, with an additional point up for grabs for the winner. The pair halved their press match, meaning it was two points on the board.
In Match 7, MENA Golfers’ Ashok Kumar beat Rohit Kashal 3&1 and then won the press match 1-up to contribute a sensational three
points, while in Match 9 Zubair Firdaus replicated the feat by beating Wayne Platts 4&3 before adding another point with a 2&1 victory in the press. The emphatic team display was rounded off in Match 13 where Craig Vance won his match against Paul Murnaghan 3&2 before halving the press match. By collecting 10 points out of 12, MENA Golfers won the Mini-Series.
One of the highlights of the event was that there were TV cameras on hand, along with commentary from Graham Clews, with the footage broadcast live on Dubai Sports channel and EAGL’s social media handles.
“The live telecast was always going to be a very crucial part for us. In the end, it was good to hear the feedback from the players about it. Most of them talked about the pressure that comes with the cameras around them, and how it affected their games. The sheer joy on their faces as they showed us messages from their relatives and friends who were watching the action in far-flung places such as the US, South Africa, Australia and Mauritius, was something that we will cherish,” said league administrator Kumria.
It’s a sentiment shared by Kapur, who added, “I was feeling some butterflies on the first tee, so I can imagine what the amateurs were going through; to be live on TV and the nerves that they feel, it’s very different from Pro-Am. The whole idea of EAGL was to give them the experience of pro tournaments for team competitions, so it’s like the Ryder Cup and a Tour event all in one.”
MENA Golfers team-member Vance, playing off a -4.5 handicap, also singled out the benefits of a live audience which were present on the course. “We had music on the first tee which livened it up a bit, [with] plenty of spectators. I think the event will hopefully give the juniors a little bit more exposure to what it’s like in these bigger events as you move out of Dubai.”
Judging by the buzz that the event created among the local golfing community and the social media traction it gathered, Aggarwal was “absolutely delighted” with the day. And understandably so, given the planning and execution of the Mini-Series, including a State of the Nation-style forum headlined by industry heavyweights after play, was achieved in less than 45 days.
The EAGL-organised Middle East Golf Forum, which took place on the same day as the Mini-Series on June 20, saw industry heavyweights including Chris May, CEO of Dubai Golf; Mark Chapleski, president of Troon International; Simon Corkill, executive Tournament director, Omega Dubai Desert Classic; Ismail Sharif, managing director of Jumeirah Golf Estates; Roger Duthie, sponsorship officer, Performance 54 and Tarratt debate on the topic ‘The Health of the Game of Golf in the UAE and the Middle East in 2021’. “Although there were challenges last year, I think that golf in the region is in a very positive place. We have seen the number of golf rounds increase by 20 per cent since the Covid-19 lockdown of 35 days between March and April. That’s a real positive because we have seen an increase in the number of memberships, rounds by members and nonmembers and the number of lessons being taken. So, there is definitely an increase in the interest in golf in the region and we have great opportunities to capitalise on that going forward [to] really grow the game,” said May.
Meanwhile, Aggarwal confirmed that there will be similar events in the run-up to the main tournament in November. “We are pleased to announce two more Mini-Series as part of the Amateur Golf Tour by Just Golf before the end of 2021. Dates, venue and other details will be revealed soon.” Stay tuned.
“The whole idea of EAGL was to give them the experience of pro tournaments for team competitions, so it’s like the Ryder Cup and a Tour event all in one”
On June 9, 2020, weeks after the global live events industry went headfirst into a concrete wall, UFC president Dana White dropped a bombshell. While every other major sporting event – not least the Olympics itself – was either rescheduled or even cancelled, White confirmed that by the following month, UFC would take its first-ever Fight Island Concept to Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
Organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), event organisers Flash Entertainment were brought on as the operations and logistics partner to deliver the entire event.
What followed was an elaborate setup that included an 11-square-kilometre stretch of Yas Island that was created as a safe zone and sealed off from the public to create a bubble wherein only those directly involved with the event were permitted. All 1,678 Abu Dhabi-based events staff involved were subjected to a 14-day hotel quarantine. Repeated Covid-19 tests were conducted on the staff, and in the run-up to the event, over 10,000 tests were administered within the safe zone. “It was a huge undertaking never been done anywhere in the world. We had three different major zones within five levels of quarantine at Yas Island. It was the first time for everyone and we were relying on protocols to establish these safety zones. We had one positive case detected, and that too even before they entered the country at the airport of their departure,” says John Lickrish, CEO of Flash Entertainment. Flash had held a 10 per cent stake in UFC which it sold in 2018 for an undisclosed amount.
While Flash, which was set up in 2008, would have in routine times busied itself with pure logistics, to pay additional heed to newfangled and intricate healthcare protocols only meant added pressure. For Abu Dhabi, there was more at stake. “A lot of credit must go to the tourism authority for taking that kind of leap of faith. It’s something that could be a huge risk to the reputation of the city,” adds Lickrish. It proved to be the contrary. With multiple events including UFC 253 and UFC 254 subsequently held in the emirate last year, it led to the big Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor UFC 257 held at the Etihad Arena earlier this year.
“I don’t think the new normal is going to be socially-distanced events. We [need] to have people be socially responsible instead”
Lickrish defines Flash as a 360-eventsservice company with a staff of around 50 full-time personnel, ramped up to around 100 seasonally during the year to cope with managing added events. Across a matter of weeks, it could find itself dealing with UAE National Day celebrations, a Formula 1 after-party concert, an AFC Asian Cup football tournament and the Pope’s visit.
“We’re a full-service events company where we create IPs and also operate them, or we use existing IPs from other third parties or government entities. We also have a facility management side where we operate venues throughout Abu Dhabi,” says Lickrish.
By focusing on facility management as well, Flash has nurtured an infrastructure and ecosystem around the events industry. One of those mega venues is Etihad Park. With a capacity of 40,000, the venue has reportedly hosted over 1.5 million people since it was built back in 2009 and has been the location for Flash Entertainmentmanaged Yasalam After-Race Concerts that brings in A-level acts from around the world, including Rihanna, Coldplay, The Rolling Stones and Lana Del Ray to perform during the annual Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend.
“When I first came to Abu Dhabi, there was only the core of Ferrari World sitting on Yas Island, with pre-work underway on the Formula 1 track. We saw the drawings at that stage and found that there was nothing occupying that particular area outside Ferrari World. We built and paid for what is now Etihad Park, and that came from Flash’s own cash reserves and the money we’ve made over the years. We’ve been maintaining and operating that venue since then.”
Apart from Yasalam, a high-profile event that was started and is owned by Flash Entertainment is the Mubadala World Tennis Championship with the likes of Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and other star players regularly competing on the court.
Even though events like the UFC and others took place recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on Flash, as it has had on the events industry as a whole. “We saw a significant reduction in our revenues of 50 per cent from our projections, and we had to look at efficiencies for 2020. In 2021, we’re hoping that the fourth quarter will be quite strong. But it’s really going to be 2022 before we kind of go back into a normal events cycle,” says Lickrish, refreshingly offering pragmatism instead of hubris.
Sponsorship for events has expectedly dried up too. “We’re looking at 20-30 per cent of our revenues generated through sponsorship, the second-highest revenue stream behind ticket sales,” he says, with Flash having tied up with Ticketmaster for ticket sales within the region. “It’s very hard to convince any partner to come in at this time because they don’t know what kind of live event they’re going to be getting.”
The big question for the events industry is what the future of events will look like – will socially-distanced events be the norm? Lickrish disagrees. “We do have the ability to deal with 30 per cent capacity. However, I don’t think the new normal is going to be socially-distanced events. We [need] to have people be socially responsible instead.
The new normal is just a different set of health and safety rules,” he says.
For Lickrish, the new normal – more than revolutionising the nature of events itself – means that it will more likely get involved in a new set of events, not least of them esports. Flash recently partnered with Abu Dhabi Gaming to launch a quartet of esports tournaments in Abu Dhabi. It includes a DOTA2 competition this month, followed by a PUBG tournament in August, a Fortnite challenge in September and a FIFA22 activation in October. “Through our partnership with AD Gaming, these events will lay solid foundations for the gaming and esports community in Abu Dhabi. We also have a partnership with twofour54 and are working on a variety of different programmes with several private sector organisations to get into esports and create opportunities with international content partners in that space. We’re really excited to be working with them to try and drive some of that into live events,” notes Lickrish.
Lickrish and team are also looking beyond Abu Dhabi. They’ve opened a field office in Dubai, and he says that they’ve recently been awarded contracts for Expo 2020, without divulging the nature or scope of work. “Working with Expo gives us a lot of credibility in that emirate. It is a springboard for us into the other emirates.” The plan though is also to seek a larger regional and international footprint. Flash have in the past managed concerts in Lebanon, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In Saudi, it also brought WWE to Riyadh and Jeddah. “We’re looking at all territories for potential branch offices and operations, whether that be in Israel, India, Qatar or Bahrain where we can work with the government, semi-government and private sectors. In some of the new territories, we see there still may be some scepticism about the longevity of the events industry. We’re here for the long term. This is not just a one-off company coming in trying to reap rewards in the short term. We’ve been here for 14 years, we’re stable, and we can bring that stability into other territories and enhance the industry as a whole.” With Flash’s track record, Lickrish is preaching to the converted.