In an interview with Sport Business Club, Mohammad Al Nimer, Chief Commercial Officer of the Esports World Cup Foundation, reveals the ambitions and first business details surrounding the event.
Paris, city of business ?
Beyond the spectacle, it's the economic argument that the foundation is putting forward to win over Paris. While the 2025 Riyadh edition was estimated at more than one billion euros in indirect economic benefits and 12,000 jobs created, the organization is projecting an impact of around 600 million euros on French GDP.
Who pay ?
Al Nimer stresses that the event is "entirely self-funded", thanks to a mix of Saudi government support — but not through the PIF sovereign wealth fund — and commercial revenue. The French state, for its part, is limiting itself to a logistical support role, through an interministerial task force tasked with facilitating visas, venues, and marketing without drawing on public finances.
On the ecosystem and partner side, discussions are already underway with several brands and broadcasters: building on its past collaborations with L'Équipe, Twitch, and YouTube, the foundation is now eyeing traditional television. The tight schedule nevertheless tempers commercial ambitions in this market, where the conversation is more about hundreds of thousands of euros than multi-million-euro broadcasting deals.
One shot only ?
In concrete terms, the heart of the competition will take place at the Parc des Expositions at Porte de Versailles, with more than 10,000 seats per day and possible pop-up activations elsewhere in the city. This choice owes much to the foundation's rotation strategy, accelerated by the regional situation in the Middle East — the EWC will in fact return to Riyadh as early as 2027. Paris, a recognized esports hub with its flagship clubs such as Team Vitality, Karmine Corp, and Gentle Mates, will therefore have only one summer to shine.
