A Dubai-based company will this month break ground on the first in a series of new privately-owned football sports complexes in Jeddah.

Duplays, which currently organises and runs corporate and private sports tournaments across the emirate, has formed a joint venture company with its own local partner and with Saudi-based developer Al Hokair Group to build the first of three pilot projects in major Saudi cities.

The 100,000 square foot Duplays Dome project will contain about 60,000 sq ft of outdoor, 'small-format' pitches typically used for games of 5-a-side up to 8-a-side football, but which can be converted for bigger, 11-a-side games. There is also 40,000 sq ft of climate-controlled space containing indoor courts that can be used for football, or for other games such as basketball and badminton, as well as a clubhouse, showers and changing facilities.

Duplays co-founder Ravi Bhusari said that the first centre in northern Jeddah will "be finished before the end of the year".

"The type of construction we are using is a modular construction and they are quick build facilities," said Bhusari.

This will be followed by two more Duplays Dome pilot projects in Riyadh and in the Eastern Province which, if successful, will facilitate a rapid rollout across the kingdom.

Bhusari said the centre has been modelled on the 'soccer centres' concept developed in the United Kingdom by companies such as Goals and PowerLeague. The company will rent pitches to groups of friends who want to play each other, but would also run more formal leagues with referees, kits and schedules for groups and individuals who want to take part in competitions. Duplays will also run Ronaldinho Soccer Academies from the centres.

Bhusari said that his ambition is to rollout 50 centres in five years - "not just because it sounds nice, but because I think it's achievable".

"But maybe 30 in five might be a little more achievable. PowerLeague has around 49 centres. Goals has around the same or slightly more. It's taken them ten years or so to build those, but Saudi is a new market, we do have a great local partner in Al Hokair [and] Duplays brings its own humble experience.

"We'll see. But I'm sure that every large city or every secondary city in Saudi could use or probably would want a sport facility like the one we envision."

Expansion goals

Duplays was founded by Bhusari ten years ago and it has grown from a business with an initial 400 members to one with more than 100,000, including a regular community of 5,000 employees.

The company also manages one 'pay to play' indoor football facility in Dubai known as Koora Dome and it employs 20 staff.

"I think we'll grow much more quickly in Saudi because each facility will need staffing, but I guess to date we've been pretty asset-light and staffing-light here in the UAE," he said.

He grew up in the kingdom (in Jubail Industrial City) and said that although there are privately-owned sites in existence that usually hold one-off pitches, there are still "limited recreational and social options".

"Sport is a great one for us to focus on," he said.

Saudi Arabia is looking to develop leisure and entertainment facilities in the kingdom as part of its Vision 2030 plan aimed at diversifying the economy. It has a target for the amount of money that Saudi households spend on recreation to double by 2030 - to 6 percent.

New projects include a major new Red Sea resort spread over 50 islands and the new Entertainment City near Riyadh featuring a theme park by United States-based Six Flags Entertainment Corporation.

Writing in an article on the company's website, Ajhed Almihdar, a senior analyst at property consultancy JLL said that as well as attempting to attract more money from tourists. "There is a lot of local demand for many services — particularly in tourism and entertainment,” he was quoted as saying.

The kingdom has a growing demand for entertainment, as 50 percent of its 32.6 million residents are currently under 30, but Almihdar said that entertainment options "are now mainly limited to shopping, cafes and children’s arcades”.

© Zawya 2017