Meet Duplays
Roots in Al Quoz. Scale across the region.
We’re not consultants who show up at the end. We’ve been playing, programming, and operating sport in the UAE since 2007, and that changes how we design everything.
The origin · 2007
What started with twelve teams in an Al Quoz school gym grew into a community that shaped how we design and operate sport and experiences today.
Those early leagues taught us how people connect through sport. Not just through the game, but through the community, the programming and the environment around it. We learned what keeps players coming back and what makes a sporting experience worth returning to.
Over time, those lessons shaped how we think about venues and sport. Thoughtful programming, efficient operations and well-designed spaces create stronger communities and better experiences. That understanding still drives how we design, manage and operate sport today.
Heritage · the long line
Nineteen years, in chapters.
Every chapter in this timeline was unplanned. A pickup game turned into a league. A league turned into a platform. A platform turned into a venue contract. We followed the community and the community kept pulling us further.
2007
Pick-up Ultimate Frisbee at the old Met Hotel fields off Sheikh Zayed Road. One sport, a handful of players, no plan beyond next Tuesday.
Grew from one sport to six: Ultimate Frisbee, football, beach volleyball, basketball, netball, and touch rugby. Crossed 1,000 registered members.
2008
2009
Two years in, Gulf Business named Duplays one of the top ten startups to watch in the region. The leagues kept running regardless.
Flash Entertainment hired us to run the tournament inside the NBA JamFest. 154 teams recruited, refereed, scheduled, kitted out, delivered.
2010
2011
Organized the world's longest football match for Snickers at Aspire Academy in Doha. 42 hours and 7 minutes of continuous play. Record broken.
Awarded the contract from Abu Dhabi Health Authority to run corporate wellness for 1,000-plus employees. Sport as infrastructure, not just recreation.
2012
2013
BBC Business covered Duplays as a case study in community sport and entrepreneurship in the Gulf. The leagues were still running that same week.
The software platform we built to run our own leagues became its own company. Spun off and rebranded as Playpass. We kept running the sport.
2014
2015
Selected by the Dubai government as one of the top 100 SMEs in the emirate. Eighteen months later we had signed our first venue deal.
Crossed the 100,000 registered member mark across hundreds of social sports leagues in the UAE. A decade of Tuesday nights adding up.
2016
2017
Signed a joint venture with Al Hokair Group to bring the Duplays operating model into Saudi Arabia. The regional expansion had officially begun.
Launched nook, the region's first licensed coworking space for sports, health and wellness industries. A new vertical. The same operator mindset.
2018
2019
Established Yeadon Middle East with Yeadon USA to bring air-supported dome technology to the region. The first domes would follow three years later.
Sport venue developments across UAE and Saudi Arabia. Design, build, operate. AllSports Arena, SFA Domes, HCT Active, Yas Sports Park.
2020-2025
What we believe
Four principles behind the operator-first model.
Most sport venues are designed by people who’ve never had to fill them on a wet Wednesday. We have. That changes everything we draw, build and run.
Community is the asset
A venue is just walls. The league inside it is the business.
Made in Dubai
Nineteen years in this city. We know who picks up the phone.
Operator in the room
On every project, from concept sketch onward. Design with consequences.
Long horizons
We measure success in years three through ten, not month one of opening.
FROM THE ARCHIVES · 2007–2026
Nineteen years of leagues, landmarks and sporting moments.
The Duplays family
Three sister projects.
A connected group of ventures built around sport, community, workspaces and the places that bring them together.
Three sister projects.
Playpass
The platform that runs our restarted leagues. Schedule, register, pay, play.
playpass.com ↗︎
Adjacent venture
Nookwork
Workspace concept by the same founders, the off-court partner project.
nookwork.ae ↗︎
Operating partner
AllSports Arena
The flagship operating venue. Designed and run by Duplays.