A booking and operations platform for sports facility owners in the UAE
Scheduling, peak and off-peak pricing, online payment, staff roles, automated notifications and revenue reporting in one platform, launched in four months ahead of peak season.
- Partner
- A UAE sports facility booking platform
- Period
- 4 months
- To launch
- 4 months
- Live ahead of the UAE peak season
- Staff roles
- 3 + custom
- Three predefined roles, plus roles owners define
- Payment
- Online
- Booking and payment status updated together
The challenge
Owners of football, tennis and other sports facilities managed bookings, pricing, payments and staff by hand. They had no safe way to delegate tasks and no view of usage or revenue without keeping their own records.
What we built
A Next.js platform on MySQL where owners set availability and peak and off-peak prices per pitch, take payment online, accept or reject bookings, give staff roles limited to their facility, and see usage, revenue and outstanding payments. AWS SES emails everyone involved when a booking is confirmed, changed or cancelled.
What was delivered
- Owner dashboard for availability, pricing and booking decisions
- Online payment, with booking and payment status kept in step
- Staff roles limited to each facility, plus automated emails and reports
Partner background
Our partner operates a sports facility booking platform in the UAE. Owners of football pitches, tennis courts and other facilities use it to run their facilities. As interest in sport across the region grew, the partner needed a system that reduced owners' administrative work while keeping bookings and accounts secure.
The challenge
Running a facility by hand
Owners needed to manage availability, several booking types, pricing, payments and requests in one place, quickly and without technical knowledge.
No safe delegation
There was no permission layer, so owners could not give staff access to specific functions without exposing everything.
No view of the business
Usage, booking history, revenue and unpaid bookings were invisible without manual record keeping.
Growth and security
The partner planned to expand across the UAE, so owner accounts and their data had to stay protected and separate as the number of facilities grew.
Objectives
- Automate scheduling and booking management
- Take payment online and track what is still owed
- Let owners assign predefined roles and create custom ones for their facility
- Give owners reports on usage, bookings and revenue
- Verify the platform with unit, integration and end-to-end tests
Our role
CharCentric designed and built the platform, from the owner dashboard and access model to notifications, reporting and automated testing.
Scope and timeline
The platform covered availability and pricing, online payment, role-based access, automated notifications and reporting. It was built and launched in four months, ahead of the peak season.
Approach
Design for the owner
Frequent tasks, such as setting availability, adjusting a price or answering a booking request, are done from the dashboard without leaving it.
Use a proven identity service
Auth0 handles sign-in through NextAuth, so security relies on an established service rather than custom authentication code. Roles and permissions are stored per facility in the platform's own database, and every request is checked against the facility it targets, so one owner's staff never see another owner's data.
Let events drive the follow-up
Payment webhooks update the booking and its payment status together, and every booking event triggers an email through AWS SES, so no one has to remember to inform the people involved.
Implementation
Owner dashboard
Availability per pitch, peak and off-peak prices per time slot, and booking requests that can be accepted or rejected in one action.
Payments
Customers pay online through a UAE-supported payment gateway. Its webhooks mark the booking paid, and owners see which bookings are still outstanding. Rejected or cancelled paid bookings are refunded through the gateway.
Roles and access
Owners assign Booking Manager, Pitch Manager or Accounting Manager roles, or create custom roles with specific permissions. Staff see only what their role allows, and only for their own facility.
Notifications
Booking confirmations, changes, cancellations and account updates are emailed automatically through AWS SES.
Reporting
Usage reports show utilization and high-demand slots. Financial reports show revenue and outstanding payments. A facility overview shows status, maintenance and upcoming bookings.
Testing
Unit, integration and end-to-end tests cover bookings, payments, notifications and reports.
Tools and technologies
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Next.js | Web application |
| Prisma and MySQL | Data model and database |
| Auth0 with NextAuth | Sign-in |
| Payment gateway | Online payment and webhooks |
| AWS SES | Automated email notifications |
What was delivered
- To launch
- 4 months
- Payment
- Online
- Staff roles
- 3 + custom
- Report types
- 3
- A live booking and operations platform for facility owners
- Online payment with outstanding balances tracked
- Staff roles limited to each facility
- Usage, revenue and facility reports
Why it matters
Small operators rarely have time for administration or software that needs training. A platform that turns daily tasks into single actions, and makes delegation safe, lets them spend their time on the facility itself.
If your organization is facing a similar challenge, we would be glad to discuss it.