International Olympic Committee inks 12-year Esports deal with Saudi Arabia

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has inked a 12-year Esports deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The oil-rich kingdom will also host the first Esports Olympics in 2025.

As a part of the deal, the 12-year partnership will also have Olympic Esports Games held regularly.

The commercial deal announcement was made during the two-month Esports World Cup that is underway in Riyadh. The deal must be approved by the IOC membership and will be on the table when the membership meets in Paris on July 23, three days before the 2024 Paris Olympics commence.

The launch of Esports and video gaming Olympics is a part of IOC’s initiative to attract and retain young audiences.

IOC president Thomas Bach said Saudi Arabia has a good expertise in the field of Esports. “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. The Olympic Esports Games will greatly benefit from this experience. By partnering with the Saudi NOC we have also ensured that the Olympic values are respected, in particular, with regard to the game titles on the programme, the promotion of gender equality and engagement with the young audience, which is embracing esports,” a statement from Bach read.

The Esports ecosystem has shown tremendous growth in Saudi Arabia as the initiative is driven by the country’s social and economic transformation under ‘Vision 2030’.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has delivered many global sports events, staging over 100 international events for both male and female athletes, including esports, football, motorsports, tennis, equestrian and golf and has attracted over 2.6 million sports fans.

The participation levels in Saudi Arabia has also tripled since 2015 to almost 50% of the country’s population. More than three-fourths of athletes consider themselves to be gamers, with an ever-increasing number, currently 100, of pro-Esports players pursuing full-time careers.