A poll commissioned by marketing and PR agency duke+mir has revealed that the Dubai World Cup is set to be the most watched sporting event of the year in the UAE, with nearly a third of residents expecting to attend or watch from afar. duke+mir surveyed more than 1,000 people through research specialist YouGov, with 31% of UAE residents indicating they would be tuning in to the biggest horse racing event on the Meydan Racecourse calendar.

The Dubai World Cup beat the UEFA Champions League Final (29%), the T20 World Cup (26%) and the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix (24%), as well as a host of other sporting spectacles, as the UAE’s favourite sporting event for 2024.

Jonathan Ivan-Duke, Co-Founder of duke+mir said, “The Dubai World Cup is an incredible occasion and clearly loved by people across the UAE and internationally. Horse racing is known as the ‘sport of kings’, but our survey suggests the Dubai World Cup will bring more people together from a broader cross-section of society than any other sporting event this year. In Australia, they call the Melbourne Cup the ‘Race that Stops The Nation’. Perhaps in the UAE, the Dubai World Cup is the Race that Unites A Nation.”

The biggest feature of the UAE racing calendar, the Dubai World Cup, is set to take place at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday 30^th March and is the culmination of the Dubai Carnival of horse racing. The UAE is synonymous with horse racing, with the famous blue Godolphin silks of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to be carried by many of the leading contenders on Dubai World Cup night.

Adding deeper insight, racing expert Michael Mulvihill, Co-Founder of @MiddleEastRacing, a dedicated horse racing social channel explained why the Dubai World Cup is such an important sports event: “It’s remarkable that the UAE’s crown jewel of horse racing topped the poll, considering there are some huge football and cricket events taking place later this year. It shows that bringing the world’s best horses and jockeys to race under the glittering lights of Meydan Racecourse for a breathtaking evening of action is something that sports fans truly enjoy.”

The research by duke+mir is part of a regular series of Middle East reports and spotlights, aiming to uncover knowledge and expand understanding of behaviours and actions in the region. To read more about a range of topics, visit www.dukemir.com.

Follow the inside track on all the runners and riders for the Dubai World Cup, with @middleeastracing on Instagram and TikTok.