Today's Edition
MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)
UAE residents are more likely than anyone else in the world to travel for sport, with 57% saying they have journeyed to attend a live event, according to the 2026 YouGov Sport Tourism Report.
The multi-market survey, conducted between November 14 and December 12, 2025, across 17 countries including the UAE, the US, Britain and India, showed that four in 10 consumers across all surveyed markets have travelled for a sporting event. In contrast, participation in the UAE far exceeds the global average.
Among UAE respondents, 40% said they had travelled internationally to attend a match or tournament, while 32% had travelled domestically for sport.
Millennials are driving the trend worldwide, with 45% saying they have travelled to attend a sporting event.
Football remains the most followed sport among those likely to travel - in the UAE, 43% of respondents said they watched or followed a game. Cricket ranked second at 32%, followed by swimming at 25%.
YouGov attributed football's continued dominance to the draw of global tournaments such as the upcoming FIFA World Cup, which continues to act as the largest driver of international sports travel.
When asked which types of events they would be willing to travel for, 43% of UAE sports travellers selected major single-sport international competitions, 31% cited international championship matches, and 28% pointed to major multi-sport international events.
The UAE also showed a stronger-than-average preference for special events or off-season matches, with 23% expressing interest in such events, compared with 19% across all surveyed markets.
Beyond the action on the pitch, UAE-based sports travellers were motivated by the broader experience.
While atmosphere and excitement were the biggest drivers in Germany (52%) and Britain (51%), 34% of consumers in the UAE cited the opportunity to visit new destinations as a key motivation for attending events abroad.
Cost, however, remained a barrier. Nearly half of UAE sports travellers (49%) identified expense as the primary obstacle to attending live sporting events.
Transport trends also reflected the country's international outlook. Globally, 64% of sports travellers have driven to events, making it the most common mode of transport.
Flights ranked second overall, especially prominent in non-Western markets such as the UAE. More than half (56%) of UAE respondents said they fly to attend sporting events, well above the 39% global average.
The report also points to the long-term impact of hosting major competitions. Nearly a quarter of respondents across all markets said that they became a fan of a new sport after attending a live match in their home city. That figure rises to 35% among Gen Z and 34% among Millennials.
In the UAE, the effect is even more pronounced. Almost half of the respondents (47%) said that they had become a fan of a new sport after attending or engaging with an international match staged in the country.
YouGov said that markets across the Middle East and Asia-Pacific demonstrate strong potential for fan conversion through live international matches, presenting new expansion opportunities for Western sports organisations seeking to grow their global audiences.
