L.A.’s Influence on the Middle East’s Sports Culture
- Jessica Campbell
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Los Angeles has long been more than a sports city, it’s a cultural engine. The way LA blends sport, entertainment, fashion, lifestyle, and fan engagement has quietly rewritten the global playbook for how modern sports are designed and consumed. It’s not just about the game; it’s about the spectacle around it.
The storytelling, the fashion, the celebrity ecosystem, the hospitality, the content; LA’s influence is now being felt thousands of miles away in one of the world’s oldest sports: camel racing.
Camel racing has deep roots across the Middle East, but the newest wave of teams is reimagining the sport with a fresh lens: one that mirrors the entertainment-first approach of Los Angeles. Leading that movement is Al Haboob Racing, founded by longtime friends and innovators Omar Almaeena and Safwan Modir. In just a short time, Al Haboob has redefined what camel racing can look like globally: cinematic storytelling, modern branding, premium fan experiences, celebrity engagement, and a historic announcement that brought an international superstar athlete into the fold.
The team’s rise feels unmistakably LA: heritage meets hype, tradition meets trend, and a sport rooted in history suddenly becomes the centerpiece of global conversation.
How LA Became the Blueprint:
When asked about LA's impact, Omar, who lives and resides in Los Angeles, didn’t hesitate:“LA has a way of turning sports moments into cultural moments,” he says. “We grew up watching how the Lakers and Dodgers - even the lifestyle around them - built narratives that resonated far beyond the arena lasting generations. That Hollywood-style storytelling is something we’ve brought into Al Haboob as well as our other projects. It’s how we introduced camel racing to a new generation, globally through our Netflix TV series, Camel Quest.”
For Omar, LA’s power is its ability to make a sport feel bigger - larger than competition, larger than the scoreboard.
It’s about world-building.
It’s about identity.
It’s about creating a universe fans want to enter.
Camel racing, he believes, deserves that same cinematic treatment. And with the buzz Al Haboob has already generated with its recent announcement that World Cup winner Paul Pogba will become its ambassador and shareholder, it’s clear the formula works.
Watching the sport evolve through Al Haboob’s lens, you see the LA playbook everywhere:
● Elevated experiences
● Modern branding
● Premium hospitality
● Celebrity-driven moments
● Content designed for global reach
These are the pillars that have made LA sports a cultural export, and Al Haboob is applying them with intention.
Safwan points to the entertainment-meets-luxury ecosystem as a blueprint.
“Los Angeles merges sport, luxury, and entertainment better than anywhere in the world,” he explains. “That inspired how we designed our fan experience, our visual identity, even our global strategy. We want people to not just watch the race, we want them to feel part of something premium, modern, and culturally relevant.”
For Safwan, the goal isn’t to imitate LA; it’s to reinterpret it. Camel racing has its own soul, traditions, and community. The magic is in merging that authenticity with premium storytelling and global appeal.
Their recent announcement, led in the US by LA-based PO3 Agency, caused shockwaves across global media in under 12 hours, with nearly a billion impressions worldwide. Major outlets are covering the story. Athletes and celebrities are reposting it. Conversations everywhere.
This wasn’t by accident.
It was by design.
And that design was shaped, in part, by Los Angeles.