GSA Launches First Pilot Programs for Sports Economy

Globally the gaming industry will make more than $100 billion this year and Saudi Arabia is set to supercharge its efforts to capture a growing share of that through eSports in the Kingdom.

As part of the General Sports Authority’s bold vision for the sports economy which aims to be the leading and most competitive Sports Economy in the region, a number of pilots have been designed in collaboration with the private sector, education sector, workforce, and local and international partnerships to developasuccessful economy around sports.

Within this context, the General Sports Authority (GSA) and the Saudi Arabia Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports (SAFEIS) have jointly designed a pilot to create and innovate an all-inclusive ecosystem around eSports in KSA - including game creators, graphic designers, publishers, broadcasters, tournament organizers, sponsors and professional players.

A first step towards this vision is the launch of a workshop on Saturday the 5thof May, called “Mapping the Future of eSports in Saudi Arabia”, which aims to assess the different opportunity areas as well as gaps and challenges.

Within government efforts to activate the role of the private sector, the event will bring together relevant government stakeholders with private sector industry leaders to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the eSports landscape. 

The workshop will aim to showcase to the world the opportunities within the Sports economy and exhibit SAFEIS’ initiatives & projects to deliver on GSA’s overarching vision and support its mission to grow the eSports Industry and community as well as providing gamers with a platform where the best can shine.

Since its recent establishment in late 2017, the Federation has held a number of events including an eSports cup, a Baloot tournament as well as a FIFA eWorld Cup qualifier.

For those interested in following the details of the workshop, the tournaments and developments to come; SAFEIS’ twitter and Instagram accounts (@SAFEISKSA) will be sharing timely updates, streaming links, stingers and other great content.