In January, 2017, eight of the top ICC Associate members in Cricket collaborated with the Emirates Cricket Board to bring the inaugural Men's Desert T20 tournament to the United Arab Emirates.

The first of its kind, countriesthat participated in the 7-day tournament included Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Ireland, Namibia, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, and hosts UAE. Matches were played at the Abu Dhabi Cricket Club's Zayed Cricket Stadium, and Dubai Sports City's International Cricket Stadium. The final, played between Ireland and Afghanistan saw a crowd of over 18,000 converge on the Dubai International Stadium, where Afghanistan claimed the 2016 Desert T20 winner's crown.

Onside Sports were engaged to create and deliver a turn-key media management and press centre for the duration of the tournament. Onside's scope included local and international media accreditation, pre-match, post-match and tournament wrap releases, social media content creation and implementation, video and photography management, post-match flash interviews and press conferences.

27 matches saw 12 releases, 54 flash interviews/press conferences, 135 videos, 400 photos, 361 twitter posts managed and shared with 2,000+ @Desert_T20 twitter followers, 34 GCC and 10 International media outlets.