Matthew Boucher's game plan: Transforming Abu Dhabi into a sports hub
Abu Dhabi, a vibrant city known for its cultural richness and modern marvels, has swiftly emerged as a powerhouse in the global sports arena. At the heart of this dynamic landscape stands the Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub, a hub of sporting excellence that orchestrates a harmonious blend of international sporting events and community engagement.
Among the key architects steering this vision is Matthew Boucher, the CEO of Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub and Advisor to the Abu Dhabi Sports Council. A stalwart in the sports industry, he brings a wealth of experience, passion, and strategic acumen to the forefront, guiding Abu Dhabi's ascent as a major player in the global sports community.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda's Business of Sports, Matthew Boucher shared his compelling journey, shed light on the unique offerings of Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub, and outlined the strategic initiatives that underscore its position in the ever-evolving landscape of sports and events.
Sports innovation in Abu Dhabi: Matthew Boucher's leadership
Q: What motivated you to pursue a career in the sports and events industry, and how has your journey shaped your approach as the CEO of Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub?
Matthew Boucher: I grew up in Hong Kong and Dad was sports-obsessed. We always had sports on the TV. He used to wake up at 5 AM, go to the golf range, practice his putting, go for a run, and play golf. In all of those spare moments, I found myself tagging along with an older brother who was equally interested in sports.
It progressed to playing and participating in a lot of community sports in England. Then, during my university days, I was really lucky to work at the Wimbledon Championships for three summers in a row.
I started to galvanize interest in being around sports stadiums, sports grounds, agencies, and sports-thinking people. That matriculated into my first job at IMG Golf in 2000, where I was very lucky to work in the golf events division and participate in the official golf world rankings as well.
I worked on a lot of events from Scotland to Sweden and England, including the women's Golf Championship event culminating in 2006-07 with the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship with my employer IMG and my future employer, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, at that time. I was lucky enough to move to Abu Dhabi in 2007 and have always been involved with Sports tourism, from that moment onwards - with the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Sports Council, and now Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub.
So I am using the destination as a platform to market events, innovate events, conceptualising new events. We were lucky at the time because Abu Dhabi did not have a widespread sports portfolio. So, we were always creating and thinking, and opportunistically looking at the global landscape of world sports products and what would fit best for Abu Dhabi's aspirations.
Q: How would you describe the unique characteristics and offerings of Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub that set it apart from other sports facilities in the region?
Matthew Boucher: I truly believe we have a unique offering at Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub. I don't think even global facilities have traffic between 650,000-700,000 community athletes playing 30 sports a week at any venue. I fully appreciate that there are smarter stadiums and there are new and more futuristic sports facilities.
In terms of the triple priority of hosting the world's best international events and teams, which we do with our wide number of events - from our Abu Dhabi 7s to Abu Dhabi T10, to over 40-50 football clubs and countries who have used our facilities for training. The second pillar is to be a community epicenter for Abu Dhabi in the UAE - which we are delivering with over 650,000 people using the venue this year.
And then third is a facility for Abu Dhabi - not so much on the participatory side but building sports facilities that other clients, partners, and stakeholders can use to benefit their KPIs; whether it's a football club or school sports days.
We are there to service our community, and the guys have done a fantastic job with reaching out to over 75 sports operators every week and the best part of over 50 schools that are using the venue.
Q: In your opinion, what role does Abu Dhabi aim to play in the global sports landscape? Is the focus more on being an active participant in various sports or becoming a major hub for hosting international events?
Matthew Boucher: I think it's important to recognize how long Abu Dhabi has been a part of the sports conversation. If you take the Abu Dhabi AEGIS PC Golf Championship, which was at the start of 2006, the Etihad Airways Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that started in 2009, Abu Dhabi has been a part of international sports conversation for the last 12-13 years.
It has only really been part of the community sports participatory scenes since His Excellency Aref Al Awani (General Secretary - Abu Dhabi Sports Council) joined Abu Dhabi Sports Council in 2015.
Now we see such a buoyant sports calendar from the community perspective. In only 12-13 years, Abu Dhabi has built a targeted range of deep-rooted relationships with international stakeholders for the events that Abu Dhabi wants and desires to hold.
It's not 40-50 international events in a calendar that we cannot sustain. It's a sustainable calendar of international top-level events that is supported by community participation by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council. So, everybody can be extremely proud of what has been achieved in 12 years and next 12 years could be extremely exciting.
Q: How would you describe the fan behavior and passion for sports in the Middle East, particularly in the UAE? Have you noticed any unique aspects compared to other regions?
Matthew Boucher: If you ask anybody in the UAE sports ecosystem about our fanbase they will all agree that they are somewhat unique. Sports events are new to the region. Even if you localize my answer to London where I grew up, I would know exactly the dates of the Wimbledon Tennis Championship, and I would know when the Test match is at Lord's, and I won't care about the opposition teams.
The culture of attendance is so much more deep-rooted in England than here. We have season-ticket holders for all top football clubs for over 70-80 years, and they have been religiously attending the match. Their week revolves around the match.
In the UAE, we have a fresher audience, who we are trying to introduce the sports to, who we are trying to educate appropriately, and we are trying to attract them to the grounds. Through these spectator-friendly experiences, we are doing a brilliant job by putting on fantastic sports events and secondly, the family-friendly experiences that we are seeing all around, twinned with many of our sports events.
Thirdly, there is no surprise that ever since the Formula One launch there was a program of concerts for the evening to give that extracurricular activity to the family and the fan. We also live in a destination with comparably fewer amounts of residence.
Since we are all vying for the same spectatorships, so our events have to be even stronger - whether that's food offerings, festivals, and gatherings. It's the audience that we are proud of and we are getting better at attracting that audience, but there is still a lot to do.
Q: What is the growth strategy for Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub in the coming years? Are there specific areas of focus or new initiatives on the horizon?
Matthew Boucher: Our next strategic phase will harness the significant infrastructure development that has taken place over the last three years. We have built world-class facilities to host and welcome the world's best international teams to play, compete, and train. We have international tournaments that we will continue to host.
We are building on our IP events, to own our events in the coming 2024-2028 cycle. We will continue our focus on our community athletes as they are a huge priority in Abu Dhabi. We will continue to develop, with our partners at Abu Dhabi Sports Council, new tournaments such as Abu Dhabi Government Games and Abu Dhabi Masters Games. The next stage is extremely exciting and we are looking forward to developing our three-pronged strategy.
Q: How does Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub engage with the local community, and what efforts are being made to encourage sports participation at the grassroots level?
Matthew Boucher: Community participation is a central pillar to everything we do at Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub. We have 75 sports operators delivering 30 sports onsite every month. We are looking forward to welcoming over 700,000 community athletes in 2023. We are developing events with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council - we are hosting school events, school sports days, and local stakeholders network to make sure we are the number one choice for all community sports in the UAE.
Q: Are there any ongoing or planned international collaborations and partnerships that will further enhance Abu Dhabi's presence in the global sports community?
Matthew Boucher: We are building new event IPs such as the recently-hosted Abu Dhabi 7s event, which is wholly earned by Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub. We will be rolling out similar event initiatives in the 2024-2028 phase, where we own events and commercialize them on behalf of the government of Abu Dhabi.
Q: Beyond the immediate success of events, what kind of long-term impact and legacy does Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub aim to create in the sports and events industry?
Matthew Boucher: Our long-term vision is the number one community sports hub in the region. We also aim to enable our public and private stakeholders in Abu Dhabi and the UAE to deliver upon their objectives by the utilization of our facility and to continue to host the world's premium international sports events and teams.