The main goal of the roundtable is to discuss how the industry should plan the remainder of the year after a challenging first half. Created by Thrive Partnerships, the forum operated under a zero-pitch policy and a vetted accreditation process.
The first months of 2026 put pressure on the region’s live entertainment ecosystem. Consumer behaviour shifting and uncertainty around scheduling left operators working with incomplete information. The roundtable was designed as a response, a private-sector think-tank where practitioners with direct commercial mandates could share data, compare notes on operational readiness and coordinate plans for Q3 and Q4.
Organisations in the room included DP World Tour, City Football Middle East, CAA Portas, Deloitte, PwC, Wasserman, IMG, Nielsen, Expo City Dubai, Miral, Coca-Cola Arena, DWTC, LaLiga and Dubai Tourism.
“The Sports & Entertainment Roundtable exists because the most important conversations in our industry aren’t happening publicly. This is where the region’s decision-makers speak candidly, collaborate freely, and build the relationships that move things forward,” said Anwar Shaikh, Founder of the Sports & Entertainment Roundtable.
Discussions covered eight themes identified as sector-wide pressure points: commercial resilience, cash flow and working capital, safety and reputation management, workforce retention, revenue diversification beyond ticketing, hyper-local audience strategies, and the future of broadcast and OTT distribution.
Participants returned repeatedly to three issues: liquidity pressure across the value chain, the shift toward local and regional engagement models, and the need for shared data to replace guesswork in planning the second half of the year.
Platinumlist, the Middle East entertainment discovery and ticketing platform, joined as a Foundational Sponsor and contributed a market briefing drawn from its proprietary data.
The briefing offered a direct read on how UAE entertainment demand behaved through Ramadan and into April. Across the Platinumlist platform, purchases per day increased 61% and revenue per day rose 35% between 17 March and 13 April 2026, compared with the preceding period. Attractions led the rebound, with cultural festivals, water parks and aquariums showing steep week-on-week increases. Comedy and Arabic concerts were already pacing ahead of pre-period levels.
A separate Platinumlist survey found that 84.7% of the users were mostly or fully ready to attend live events again. Only 5.5% remained hesitant. The largest cluster of ticket-price intent sat in the $50 to $200 range.
“Operators across the GCC have been working with patchy signals for two months. The most useful thing we could bring to this room was a clear read on what the consumer is actually doing. The number that mattered most was 84.7%. The audience is ready. The challenge now is matching that readiness with the right formats, pricing and on-site experience,” said Cosmin Ivan, CEO of Platinumlist.
A second edition is planned for November 2026 with a pan-GCC focus, 400 delegates and more than 50 international executives from Riyadh, Doha, London and the US.
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About the Sports & Entertainment Roundtable
The Sports & Entertainment Roundtable is a private-sector, invitation-only forum created by Thrive Partnerships for senior leaders across GCC sports, live entertainment, venues, rights, sponsorship and event technology. The first Dubai edition was held on 28 April 2026 at The Pavilion, Emirates Golf Club as a zero-pitch environment for peer-to-peer discussion on operational readiness and commercial continuity.
About Platinumlist
Platinumlist is a leading entertainment discovery platform in the Middle East. Users can follow their favourite artists, get notifications for local performances, and enjoy secure and convenient event access. Furthermore, Platinumlist supports event organisers with advanced tools like reporting, seat mapping, and dynamic QR codes, covering everything from setup and management to digital marketing, on-site ticket scanning, and sales.
Since 2009, the platform has boasted over 100,000 events, ranging from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to smaller gatherings, working with clients in 18+ countries, including the GCC, MENA, Europe, and the US. As a leading entertainment brand in the region, it serves tens of millions of fans annually through concerts, cultural events, and more.
