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Sceptics may call it sportswashing, but the ambition to
position Saudi Arabia as the global hub for sports and gaming should not be
underestimated. The country is committed to the Vision 2030 sports, tourism,
entertainment and investment blueprint for transformation, and its
leaders are candid about why and how they will do this.
“Investing in gaming and esports is strategic for KSA,”
explained Saudi Minister of Investment H.E. Eng. Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih.
“Vision 2030 is about social transformation and pivoting from reliance on
natural resources because in many ways the most renewable and most important
resource is the human resource. Oil is the most important part of global
economy – everybody knows its valuation – but the new oil is in sports and
esports.”
He was speaking as part of a panel of Saudi leaders at the
New Global Sports Conference in Riyadh last weekend (23-24 August), an adjacent
event to the finals of the Esports World Cup.
“If we were drilling very deep for oil decades ago, we will
drill very deep into sports – pun intended,” he said. “People look at gaming as
an entertainment tool for consumers. We see it as the cornerstone of
transformation that includes tourism, technology, education and social
development.
“The glue that connects this is PIF [KSA’s Public Investment
Fund]. To do this we have to get the entire ecosystem to grow together as a
global not just a national coalition. We are opening our doors in the kingdom
for global investment. We have so much potential to catch up in terms of
consumption.”
There is huge latent demand for sports in the kingdom. Its
digital native population is not only young, 67% (23.5 million of the 35
million population) consider themselves to be active gamers. The market for
video games in KSA is already worth $1.8 billion with $6.8 billion projected in
gaming consumption by 2030. Esports and gaming’s contribution to GDP is
projected to hit $13.3 billion by 2030 and generate nearly 39,000 jobs.
“People look at gaming as an entertainment tool for
consumers. We see it as the cornerstone of transformation that includes
tourism, technology, education and social development”
“Everything we do is be a part of a global network of
sports. We have the support. I mean, where else in the world would you get four
of the top government ministers sitting with someone in charge of esports to
talk about games? It shows the importance that this has to our economy and the
importance it has to the future of young men and women in this country.”
He pointed out that female participation in esports is on
the rise.
“The global average for women in esports is 5%. In Saudi it
is 20% and growing,” he said. “We have 500 esports graduates at universities, a
good proportion of whom are women, and 3,000 young women who will become pro
players in the next 3-4 years.”
The chair of the Saudi Esports Federation, HRH Prince Faisal
Bin Bandar Bin Sultan Al Saud, elaborated on the growth trajectory of domestic
esports.
“When we started in 2018 we had one game development
company, one professional esports team with six professional players. We had a
community that was an unknown entity, almost no investment in the business and
industry regulations that were unclear. We had no servers that were hosting
games.
“Today, we have servers where the ping rate in almost every
game is under 40 milliseconds and, on average, probably closer to 10ms. We have
dozens of professional teams and 10,000 players. We have a dedicated women’s
team with equal prize money pools.
“Over 3 million people have come to Riaydh in this heat to
visit EWC2025. Summer here is a time when everything used to close down. Now
hotels, shops, restaurants are open because of esports.”
In MENA as a whole right now some $6 billion in revenue is
generated from gaming, over one-third of it emanating from Saudi. “That’s 350
million gamers in one region speaking one common language of gaming with Saudi
at the centre,” he added.
“But it’s not just how can we contribute to help develop
talent here. Our goal is to create a global hub for gaming and esports but
not the global hub. What we need is more global hubs so the global
sport reaches the pinnacle of other sports like football.”
The esports exec sharing the stage with the Saudi officials
was Ralf Reichert, CEO, Esports World Cup Foundation. “The question is not has
esports arrived but what are we building around it,” he said. “The game has
expanded as players move across titles, platforms and communities. Recognition
is crossing over with sports stars like [F1 driver] Lando Norris visiting where
he said the level of skill is insane. This is not hype. This is excellence
recognising excellence.”
While the likes of Norris, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gerard Piqué,
Kaká, Alisha Lehmann and Nick Kyrgios have appeared in ambassadorial
roles at EWC25, the organisation is helping put the spotlight on esports
players by arranging for them to appear at major sports events such as the
Grand Prix or the Super Bowl.
“We are putting them in the life they deserve to be, which
is at the top of the cream of the crowd of any sport out there,” said Minister
of Sports Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal.
World chess champion Magnus Carlsen even competed in the
inaugural chess event at EWC2025, winning the tournament and a cheque for
$250,000.
One mandate for Vision 2030 is to increase the participation
of Saudis in sports. In 2015, 13% of the population spent half an hour or more
participating in any sport during a week. Setting a target of 40% by 2030, last
year it had already reached 58% with 23 million Saudis playing esports or video
games of some form.
“With 63% of our population under the age of 30 they are
energetic and want to do stuff. It is our job to ensure they participate in
different sports,” said Turki Al-Faisal. “Esport is a sport. It takes a lot of
practice, training and fitness. The beauty of esports is the ability for mass
participation around the world.”
Fahd Hamidaddin, who runs the Saudi Tourism Authority, said
foreigners travelling to the kingdom for sports was the most important reason
to visit.
“We realised that tourism for sport is growing faster than
those travelling for other purposes like culture or leisure, therefore we are
investing heavily in sport across the board.
H.E. Abdullah Alswaha, Minister of Communications and
IT, noted that the local esports community is growing at five times GDP. “The
investment is about how we can take this traction and activate the next big
thing. The kingdom has committed billions of dollars to gaming and positioned
Qiddiya [a new city being constructed 40 minutes away from the capital] as a
global gaming destination.”
In concluding remarks HRH Prince Faisal said: “We were
looking to build a complete esports pipeline for players and coaches and also
for the industry for broadcasters, creators, event professionals, developers,
entrepreneurs – the whole ecosystem.
“The message is simple. Esports has entered the mainstream
of world sports and Riyadh is one of its capitals.”
Kingdom prepares for FIFA World Cup 2034
In November 2023, the KSA was confirmed as host for the 2034
World Cup. It now has to build much of the infrastructure to support it.
Minister of Sports Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal claimed the bid file for the
tournament had the highest rating of any World Cup bid ever.
“2034 is a highlight for us in sports, a showcase for the
kingdom, but there’s a lot of work to do in nine years to make sure we deliver
on our goal to host the best World Cup in history,” he said.
“In the past eight years, Saudi has proven itself as host
for some of the biggest events in the world, but we know that the World Cup is
the biggest, especially with the increased number of national teams competing.
We’re watching what’s going to happen in [US, Canada & Mexico], to learn
from it.”
The five host cities will feature 15 ‘advanced’ stadiums,
including 11 new, planned stadiums. Riyadh itself will be home to eight venues
for World Cup matches, with the final hosted at the new 92,000-capacity King
Salman Stadium.
A new city is being built entirely as a venue for sports and
entertainment. Qiddiya, near Riyadh, will host World Cup games at a stadium to
be constructed featuring a “stunning view” of the Tuwaiq cliffs and exterior
facades covered in coloured glass and LED screens.
“We are working on the infrastructure that will accommodate
the World Cup, including hotels and hospitality units, and designing the
stadium at Qiddiya to make sure it has a legacy. It needs to be integrated for
other sports, including esports.
“I don’t think there is a government in the world that
collaborates across sectors as we do to make sure that we succeed to achieve
these goals.”
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