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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have signed a gaming partnership that will see the Olympic eSports games held regularly in the Kingdom over the next 12 years.
The inaugural eSports Olympics will be held in Riyadh next year with the dates of future events not yet announced.
Saudi sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal said the country “has become a global hub for professional esports. This is a natural next step for our young athletes, our country, and the global esports community.”
The deal still needs to be ratified by the membership of the IOC at its next meeting on the 23rd and 24th of this month in Paris ahead of the Summer Olympic Games. This is expected to only be a formality however with the deal already agreed.
Prince Abdulaziz said in a post on X, “We are excited to partner with the IOC and plan together the first-ever Olympic Esports Games. A bright new era begins. Another huge addition to our lineup of major sporting events. Welcome to Saudi Arabia”
We are excited to partner with the IOC and plan together the first-ever Olympic Esports Games. A bright new era begins.
Another huge addition to our lineup of major sporting events 👏
Welcome to Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦#OlympicEsportsInSaudi
— عبدالعزيز بن تركي الفيصل (@AbdulazizTF) July 12, 2024
The IOC’s President Thomas Bach said, “We are very fortunate to be able to work with the Saudi NOC on the Olympic Esports Games, because it has great – if not unique – expertise in the field of esports with all its stakeholders.”
Bach has previously stated that the eSports event will have a different financial model from the Summer and Winter Games, both of which share revenue with the governing bodies of participating sports.
Last December we reported that Saudi Arabia was vying to become a global force in eSports and gaming entertainment and had unveiled a multi-billion dollar entertainment region called the Qiddiya Entertainment District featuring a huge new eSports arena with one of the world’s largest total areas of video screens to relay the action stating that the arena “will be unique in esports in both scale and user experience.”
