Adidas Built a Glow-in-the-Dark Basketball Court High Above Dubai

If you find yourself playing on the Adidas’ new “I’m Possible” glow-in-the-dark basketball court in Dubai, try not to lose the ball over the edge. It will take a while to get it back.

Working with Havas Middle East, the brand built the court more than 800 feet in the air, atop a 52-floor tower at the heart of the man-made island The Palm. Havas used hundreds of UV black lights, LED panels and luminesecent paint to create the court, which also features a large mural of Sudanese-British basketball player, poet and activist Asma Elbadawi.

Elbadawi is well known for having led the 2014 effort that overturned the International Basketball Federation’s (FIBA) ban on religious headgear in professional basketball. Thus, the Adidas court itself supports the drive toward a more inclusive playing field for all athletes.

This video shows the the court in more detail, with Elbadawi testing it out:

“When we wanted to end the ban on playing with hijab, they said impossible. But like this city, every time I’m told impossible, all I hear is, ‘I’m possible’,” Elbadawi says in press materials.

“This campaign could have only happened in a city like Dubai, which constantly defies boundaries and symbolizes possibilities, values shared by both Adidas and Asma,” adds Paul O’Connor, director of brand communications and sports marketing for Adidas in Dubai.

The court really is quite a sight from above. See more pics below.