After six months of waiting, the EAFL hosted a regular season men’s game at Dubai Sports City.

The various youth levels have played a number of games at the facility where the EAFL has its headquarters, but never before has the top league entertained the crowds at one of the city’s best facilities.

Fans won’t need to wait long until the next game at Dubai Sports City given that the Desert Bowl final takes place there on March 14.

The EAFL has taken a major step by moving to Dubai Sports City, which can seat a couple of thousand people as well as boasting a VIP suite, a press suite, top-notch changing rooms and a quality surface.

More than that, it gives the EAFL an extra layer of credibility.

“This is a first-class facility for the EAFL,” league commissioner Stan Gay told Sport360°.

“The grass is great, the stadium is great. Also, from the seats you can see two games going on at once. So aesthetically it’s very pleasing.

“It’s very important to have an office here. We have a central spot that we can actually come to and meet up and get work done. We can call this home, we can bring sponsors and contributors to come here and see what we have as an organisation and show what direction we are trying to go in.”

A quality on-field product and competent management has helped the league amass some serious flagship sponsors, but a new top-class facility gives the EAFL to both entice and entertain those that can help take the league to the next level.

Friday’s games saw the VIP suite used to the fullest with free food being served by a sponsor. For Gay, the VIP area was a real selling point for the league when they looked at Dubai Sports City.

“That’s the goal, the VIP area was something me and Dustin (Cherniawski, league general manager) looked at when we took the place. We took a tour and we saw the potential to have media areas, a VIP section for sponsors to enjoy the game and at the same time we can do press conferences.

“We are looking to build for the future and this facility gives us the chance to build the EAFL for the future,” added Gay.