RTA 3v3 · Kareem Abdul-Jabbar · Dubai · 2016
Streetball, a metro ride, and an NBA legend.
Client
Roads and Transportation Authority
Practice
Event
Status
Delivered · 2016
The brief
The RTA asked us to organise a 3-on-3 streetball tournament for their Public Transport Day initiative. Entry required a metro ticket stub. We set up courts at Al Ghubaiba Metro Station, ran the brackets, and put Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at courtside. The NBA's all-time leading scorer, at a parking lot streetball tournament. It worked.
The approach
Three decisions that turned a transport day into a community moment.
01
Metro-ticket entry mechanic
No stub, no play. The entry mechanic proved participants used public transport to reach the event and gave the RTA an activation they could measure. We handled registration, verification and bracket seeding on the day.
02
Streetball format
We kept it raw. A parking lot, portable hoops, chalk lines and a sound system. The 3v3 format runs faster than a full game, keeps crowds engaged, and gives every player time on court. The simplicity was the point.
03
Kareem integration
Kareem was present for the full event, not a photo call at noon. He watched games, spoke to players, and presented to finalists. We coordinated his full-day participation so the moment felt earned by the players who made it through the brackets.
Teams on the day
0
Metro ticket required to enter
0
Community members attended
0
+
NBA all-time scoring leader on the sideline
0
Testimonial
"Duplays didn't just design AllSports Arena. They taught us how to run it — and then they did, for the first 18 months."
Partner, AllSports Arena
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
