From Paris 2024 to the World Cup: Why French Sports, Media & Events Companies Are Expanding to Dubai

Two summers ago, France ran the Paris Olympics, the biggest show on earth. It sold 12.1 million tickets, more than London 2012, and according to a study for the International Olympic Committee, it generated up to €11.1 billion in net benefit for the Paris region.¹ France proved that they can run an entire event economy, production, media, sponsorship, hospitality, security, at the highest level.

This summer, the World Cup is playing out across the US, Canada and Mexico. In 2034, it lands in Saudi Arabia, a short flight from Dubai. The whole Gulf is scaling up sport, media and live events at once, a shift the consultancy Oliver Wyman valued at a $75 billion opportunity as the region prepares to host.² France has the playbook. So why keep it home?

Source: Oliver Wyman Sports Industry Outlook 2025 via Arab News, International Olympic Committee Paris 2024 Economic Study, Peninsula 2034 World Cup Business Report, and Dubai FDI Regional Headquarters 2025, via Oliver Wyman

That is where a Dubai base changes the maths. With Meydan Free Zone, business setup in Dubai for French citizens is fully digital and takes under 60 minutes with Fawri, the instant license, leaving you free to focus on winning the work that will keep you booked through the next decade of Gulf events.

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The Gulf Is Buying French Football Coaching

There is one area where France leads: player development.

According to the French Football Federation, Clairefontaine, its national training centre, is one of the best-known academies in the world, and the French youth system produced Kylian Mbappé, Thierry Henry and a generation of others. That reputation already travels to the Gulf:

• PSG Academy runs coaching programmes in Saudi Arabia today
• French-branded academies are operating in Riyadh, some staffed by FFF-licensed coaches
• Saudi Arabia is building youth pipelines and academies as part of its 2034 preparation, and it wants proven methods, not improvised ones

That is a direct opening for French coaches, academy operators and performance specialists, and it is licensable through Meydan Free Zone:

How French Sports Production Goes Global

Coaching is not the only thing France does at a world-class level. It also produces the pictures the world watches:

• France Télévisions, the host broadcaster of Paris 2024, ran the flame relay on a 100% cloud and 5G broadcast, a first at that scale according to broadcast technology partner TVU Networks
• EMG (Euro Media Group), French-rooted, is one of the world's largest broadcast-production firms, working the Tour de France, the World Cup, Formula One and Eurovision

The Gulf needs exactly this craft. A French production house can supply it, and license the work through Meydan Free Zone:

Why the Gulf Is the Next Big Market for Events

The build-up to Saudi Arabia's 2034 World Cup has already started, and it runs far wider than football. One major event feeds dozens of businesses. Across the region right now:

• Brands need sponsorship strategies and fan campaigns
• Tourism boards need marketing that fills hotels and flights
• New venues need launch events and opening shows
• Agencies and organisers need partners who can deliver all of it

That is the opportunity: not one tournament in 2034, but a decade of work leading up to it. 

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Why Dubai Is the Perfect Base to Tap Into Saudi 2034

According to Peninsula, Saudi Arabia is investing an estimated $26 billion in World Cup infrastructure, building 15 new stadiums across five cities.³ For a French coach, producer or event operator, that is not a one-month event to fly in for. It is a decade of contracts in coaching, media, sponsorship and live production, and the briefs are being written now.

The work runs across Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and beyond, and Dubai is the one base that reaches all of it:

• Be in Riyadh and back the same day, via the world's busiest international airport, so you serve Saudi without moving there.
• Set up where the region works: According to Dubai FDI, around 70% of Fortune 500 firms with a Middle East presence run it from Dubai, so the clients, banks and partners are already here.⁴
• One company, whole Gulf: invoice, bank and contract across the region on a single license, instead of rebuilding in each country.

One License, Three Income Streams in Dubai

Most French firms here do not sell just one service. A coach adds performance consultancy. An agency plans the event, produces the content and runs the campaign after the crowd leaves. Meydan Free Zone is built for that: you bundle up to three activity groups under a single license, from a catalogue of 2,500+ activities, so the company matches how you actually earn.

Beyond the coaching and production activities, the event and marketing side maps cleanly too:

Meydan Free Zone's team matches the exact activities to your model, which matters, because the licensed activity decides how you invoice, onboard clients and open banking.

One thing to keep in mind: a Dubai company is a second base, not a replacement for your French obligations. If you stay a French tax resident, or move without planning the timing, French rules including the exit tax on certain holdings still apply. 

How French Founders Set Up in Dubai with Meydan Free Zone

For a French founder, the obstacle is rarely ambition. It is time. Meydan Free Zone solves exactly that. It is a fully digital, 24/7 free zone, and Fawri, its instant license, issues online in under 60 minutes. A regular license starts from €2,971 (AED 12,500), Fawri from €3,566 (AED 15,000). What makes it fit a sports, media or events firm:

• Passport-only setup: run your business from France or anywhere in the world with no first-step travel
• A tax-efficient base: 0% personal income tax and 0% corporate tax on qualifying free zone income
• Bank-fit matching across 26+ partner banks, where Meydan Free Zone sends your application to the banks that best fit your profile and makes the introductions, to secure a guaranteed IBAN so you can invoice from day one
• Upfront pricing on the license, visas and activities via the online Cost Calculator
• mResidency for end-to-end residency, from visa application to medical, biometrics and Emirates ID
• mPlus for ongoing operations, including compliance, accounting and day-to-day support as you scale

In Conclusion

France proved in Paris that it can deliver the world's biggest stage, and it has spent decades building the coaches, producers and event teams the rest of the world now wants. The Gulf is building the next decade of sport, media and live events, and it is buying exactly what France knows how to do.

A Dubai base lets you sell into that work without giving up what France built, a second base for French expertise, close to where the next stage is being played out. If you are weighing business setup in Dubai for French citizens, speak to a business consultant at Meydan Free Zone about your activity scope, banking path and residency route.

Footnotes

¹ International Olympic Committee, Independent Study Reveals Olympic Games Paris 2024 Economically Beneficial for Host Region, May 2024.

² Oliver Wyman, Sports Industry Outlook, Middle East growth opportunity, April 2025. Coverage via Arab News, "Saudi Sports Investment Opportunities Near $5bn."

³ Peninsula, 2034 World Cup: Unlocking Business Opportunities in Saudi Arabia, June 2025.

⁴ Dubai FDI, Dubai Regional Headquarters, 2025.