The patch on the upper left corner of New York Knicks jerseys during the NBA Finals instructs fans to “Experience Abu Dhabi.” It’s a high-profile example of what has become a relatively common sponsorship in global sports—sovereign funds encouraging fans to travel to places they might not have previously considered.
Right now, however, is a bad time to experience Abu Dhabi, at least according to the U.S. government. The State Department lists the United Arab Emirates as a Level 3 country, meaning Americans should “reconsider travel,” due to the threat of armed conflict and terrorism.
The war in Iran, which spread quickly across the Middle East, has altered the impact for what is likely a mid-eight-figure sponsorship agreement—among the most expensive patch deals in the NBA. Abu Dhabi has built a reputation in recent years as a safe option for tourists and professionals across the region, but as tens of millions of people globally see the Experience Abu Dhabi patch during the Knicks’ Finals games, the emirate is reckoning with a shift in circumstance.
“No matter what type of tourism advertising they do, they can’t overcome the geopolitical realities or facts on the ground,” Eric Lob, a Middle East expert and professor at Florida International University, said in an interview. “They’ve sustained a lot of damage and destruction to their civilian and energy infrastructure. Their image as a hub of stability—for investment, tourism, finance, etc.—has really taken a hit. … It’s a precarious time for them.”
Representatives for the Knicks and the Abu Dhabi tourism bureau didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
The influx of direct sovereign money has been one of the biggest business stories in global sports over the past decade. Much of that has come out of the Middle East, where states like Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates are eager to diversify their economies beyond oil and natural gas exports. Sports have become a convenient vehicle for multiple pillars of that push: The economic upside is large, it creates positive sentiment separate from alleged human rights violations and it generates tourism.
That last piece has become increasingly important. Twenty years ago, tourism in the Gulf was relatively limited; now it’s a principal part of many economies looking to diversify away from a dependency on oil. Qatar says it welcomed about 1.4 million visitors when it hosted the 2022 World Cup, and many of Saudi Arabia’s relationships in sports are built around Riyadh Season, an annual months-long series of events held in the kingdom’s capital.
Among the UAE emirates, Dubai has emerged as the most prominent tourism hub, attracting deep-pocketed travelers from around the world. Abu Dhabi, its wealthier neighbor to the south, has generally appealed more to foreigners for professional and educational opportunities. But it’s trying to change that, according to Robert Mogielnicki, founder of Polisphere Advisory, an investment consultancy focused on Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
“Abu Dhabi has been making steady progress carving out a niche as a destination in its own right,” Mogielnicki said in an email. “In some respects, Abu Dhabi caters to a different crowd of international visitors. But both emirates want to attract more tourists and long-term residents over the coming years.”
The Knicks’ patch deal with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT Abu Dhabi) is part of a wider relationship announced in October 2024. Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. and Sphere Entertainment Co., sister companies to the Knicks’ parent, also have multiyear marketing partnerships with DCT Abu Dhabi, which include advertising on the outside of the eponymous New York City arena and Las Vegas theater. Earlier this year, the two groups announced that Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island would be home to another Sphere project, with DCT Abu Dhabi investing $1.7 billion toward construction.
A year prior to the DCT Abu Dhabi agreement, the Knicks were in advanced talks with Riyadh Season on a patch deal that did not come to fruition, Sportico has previously reported. The NBA team wore patches with the Sphere logo in the interim until the Experience Abu Dhabi deal was finalized.
The Knicks are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, and they won Game 1 on the road against the San Antonio Spurs. New York’s playoff run has been one of the most dominant in the league’s history—and a boon to its patch partner. Heading into the Finals, the Knicks’ 13 playoff games had generated more than $9 million in earned media value for DCT Abu Dhabi, according to data from Apex Marketing Group.
The NBA has its own broader relationship with DCT Abu Dhabi, which includes preseason games played in the emirate, the creation of an academy on the ground, and other advertising. The league’s in-season tournament was recently renamed the Emirates Cup, part of a deal with the Dubai-based airline. Those deals, in addition to the Knicks patch, drew recent criticism from Omer Ismail, the former foreign minister of Sudan, over the gulf state’s alleged funding of militias participating in an ongoing Sudanese civil war.
“It’s unlikely that Steph Curry knows that the UAE provides arms and other support to a militia in Sudan that the United Nations says is committing genocide,” Ismail said in a Zeteo op-ed. “LeBron James would probably not have heard that in October 2025, as the NBA Emirates Cup games were underway, the RSF, supported by the UAE, overran the Sudanese city of El Fasher and killed somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 Sudanese civilians.
The U.S. and Israel have been at war with Iran since initiating strikes on Feb. 28. Two days later, the U.S. removed all non-emergency government personnel and their families from UAE and some neighboring countries. While there have been announced ceasefire agreements and ongoing peace talks, it’s unclear how soon after the fighting ends that UAE and its neighbors can return to pre-war tourism levels.
“Who knows when there’s going stability in that part of the world,” said Lob, who wrote a 2020 book about Iran’s post-1979 evolution. “And how long, even after the fact, will it take for people to be willing to go back there? Even for work, let alone for tourism.”