Riyadh hosts the “New World Sports Conference 2026” ahead of the first edition of the National Team Cup
The E-Sports Foundation announced today the return of the New World Sports Conference 2026 (NGSC26) to Riyadh from October 30 to November 1, 2026, ahead of the start of the 2026 E-Sports National Team Cup, the new and prominent global e-sports event based on the representation of countries, which Riyadh will host for the first time from November 2 to 29, 2026.
The conference will be held at the Sofitel Riyadh Hotel and Convention Center, where it brings together an elite group of leaders, innovators and decision-makers from the sectors of gaming, e-sports, sports, entertainment, technology and investment, within a global platform for dialogue, exchanging visions and building partnerships to discuss the future of these sectors and the systems that will determine their features, and to exchange ideas and enhance cooperation in preparation for the next stage of global competition. The conference, which was launched in 2023, aims to enhance cooperation between various sectors and anticipate the future of global competition in light of the increasing intersection between sports, technology and entertainment, which contributes to shaping the features of the next generation of global competitions.
The Foundation also announced the launch of tickets to attend the conference, and those wishing to attend can obtain their tickets now via the link here.
Before the launch of the main conference in Riyadh next November, the E-Sports Foundation will organize an exclusive summit affiliated with the conference, which will be held in conjunction with the 2026 E-Sports World Cup, hosted by the French capital, Paris. This summit is the first event of the conference to be held outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and constitutes the first steps in the international expansion of the conference nearly three years after its launch.
This year’s conference is held under the slogan “Victory in its New Meaning: Shaping the Future of the Gaming Sector to Keep pace with a New Era of Competition – Artificial Intelligence, Capital and Returns.” The conference slogan reflects the rapid transformation in the concept of success in the gaming, e-sports, and sports sectors, as speakers will discuss the growing role of artificial intelligence technologies, new financing models, ownership structures, commercial innovation, and the behavior and requirements of the audience of these sectors, and the extent of their impact on the value generated by these sectors and the development of their system, and redefining the concept of success and victory in them.
In a new step for this year’s edition, the New World Sports Conference will feature the opening day, October 30, by invitation only, and will include exclusive networking events, workshops, high-level meetings and discussion sessions, before the launch of the main agenda of the conference.
Commenting on this topic, Hans Jagno, Director of the New World Sports Conference at the E-Sports Foundation, said: “The New World Sports Conference has become a leading annual platform that brings together the most prominent leaders of the gaming, e-sports and sports sectors to discuss the most important developments in these sectors and shape their future. In 2026, we will continue to strengthen this pioneering role of the conference through two main stations, which are organizing the New World Sports Conference in Riyadh in November in conjunction with the E-Sports National Team Cup tournament, and holding the exclusive Paris Summit.” In conjunction with the World Cup for Electronic Sports, these two stations reflect the global ambition of the New World Sports Conference to strengthen its position as a global forum for the most prominent global experts, leaders and decision-makers and as a center from which bright ideas and fruitful partnerships emerge that shape the future of global competition and give a new meaning to the idea of victory in the world of these sectors.”
This year’s edition continues the great success and continued growth achieved by the conference in 2025, when it witnessed the attendance of more than 1,500 participants from the most prominent experts and decision-makers in various sectors, including more than 500 CEOs, along with representatives from 25 major game publishers, and more than 50 influential institutions and companies in the e-sports sector. The conference also brought together global leaders in many fields, including gaming, sports, investment, media and technology
The 2025 edition witnessed the participation of speakers and representatives from Ubisoft, Amazon, Sony, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), and the E-Sports Foundation, in addition to the participation of the most prominent international speakers, including the world chess grandmaster, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, the famous British entrepreneur and podcast host, Stephen Bartlett, the well-known Japanese game designer Hideo Kojima, and the Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn. And former American soccer player Alex Morgan. The event also hosted more than 250 bilateral meetings, in addition to the signing of 30 memorandums of understanding and strategic agreements in the gaming, e-sports and sports sectors.
The conference is being organized in partnership with “Richard Attias & Partners”, the international company specializing in strategic communication and organizing international events and conferences, in addition to “Ma’an Strategic Communications” Company, the consulting company based in Riyadh that specializes in media relations, marketing and content creation within the program. These two companies contribute to supporting the conference by developing its global platform, enhancing communication strategies and increasing influential interaction in the gaming, e-sports and sports sectors.
