Summary (key takeaways):
- Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is reshaping its sports strategy, winding down funding for LIV Golf (after investing more than $5 billion) and stepping back from several other sports.
- In PIF's 2026–2030 strategy, sport is no longer a dedicated sector, and the one sports-related area singled out is esports, framed as an industrial and technology investment.
- The centrepiece is the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, and PIF's Savvy Games Group has been acquiring major gaming assets (reportedly a $6 billion deal for studio Moonton).
- For the region, it signals a shift from funding foreign leagues toward building a home-grown gaming and tech economy, part of Vision 2030's diversification away from oil, and it plays to a genuine local strength: an estimated 77% of UAE residents game online, India is one of the world's fastest-growing gaming markets, and MEA is the fastest-growing gaming region globally.
- There's no pure "esports stock", investors gain exposure indirectly. With Nemo.money app, you can explore gaming-related companies and global markets, and invest from $1 with zero commission.
For a few years, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund seemed willing to spend almost any sum to plant a flag in global sport, most visibly in golf. Now the strategy is changing in a way that matters for the whole region, and for anyone interested in where the Gulf's economy is heading. The money is moving from the golf course to the console. Here's what's happening, and why esports has become the Kingdom's chosen bet.
The great sports pullback
The clearest signal came from golf. PIF poured more than $5 billion into LIV Golf, the breakaway league launched in 2022, but after years of heavy losses and limited traction against the established tours, it confirmed it will withdraw funding after the 2026 season.
Golf wasn't the only cutback. As part of a broader reset, PIF also stepped back from a planned mountain resort project, discontinued its backing of a high-profile snooker event, passed on renewing a major tennis-finals option, and sold its majority stake in one of the domestic football clubs it had owned. Taken together, it marks a deliberate move away from writing large cheques to subsidise loss-making foreign sports properties.
Esports: the one area singled out
Here's the striking part. When PIF published its 2026–2030 investment strategy, "sport" was no longer listed as a dedicated sector at all, with one exception. The only sports-related area named was esports, and notably, it was framed less as a sport and more as an industrial and technology ecosystem, a sector to build, not just sponsor.
That focus is already visible. The Esports World Cup, hosted in Riyadh with enormous prize pools, has become one of the biggest events in competitive gaming, offering a financial lifeline to teams after a difficult stretch known in the industry as the "esports winter," when funding had dried up. And through its games-and-esports arm, Savvy Games Group, PIF has been acquiring serious assets, including a reported $6 billion deal to buy the studio behind a hugely popular mobile game.
Why esports, and why now?
The logic ties directly to Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's long-term plan to diversify its economy away from oil. Esports and gaming fit that goal in ways golf never could:
- A young, digital-native population. The Gulf, and the wider Middle East, has one of the world's youngest, most connected populations, a natural audience and workforce for a gaming industry.
- Building an industry, not renting prestige. Funding a foreign golf league bought visibility but created little at home. A gaming and esports ecosystem, studios, tournaments, jobs, technology, can be built domestically and, in theory, become self-sustaining.
- A global growth sector. Gaming is already bigger than film and music combined, and esports reaches hundreds of millions of mostly young viewers, exactly the kind of high-growth, high-tech industry a diversifying economy wants.
In short, golf was a sponsorship; esports is meant to be an industry.
Gaming's popularity, by the numbers
The bet makes more sense when you see how deeply gaming has taken hold, especially in this region. Globally, gaming is now a roughly $205 billion industry with an estimated 3.6 billion players, close to half the planet, and bigger than film and music combined. But the regional picture is what stands out:
- The UAE and wider Gulf. Engagement here is among the highest anywhere: an estimated 77% of the UAE population plays games online, concentrated in the 25–44 age group. The Middle East & Africa is the fastest-growing gaming region in the world (growing at roughly 12.5% a year), with a market worth around $15 billion and an estimated 377 million gamers, and mobile making up about 70% of revenue.
- India. A gaming powerhouse in the making, the market is projected at around $11 billion in 2026 and is the fastest-growing in Asia-Pacific, potentially tripling to over $35 billion by 2030, driven overwhelmingly by affordable mobile gaming.
- Europe. A large, mature market worth around $35 billion, with steady rather than explosive growth, the kind of established base a global industry is built on.
For a region with one of the world's youngest, most connected, most game-engaged populations, building a domestic gaming and esports industry isn't a random bet, it's playing to a genuine local strength.
Which listed companies actually touch esports?
While you can't invest in PIF's push directly, a number of publicly listed companies do have genuine, documented esports involvement, though for almost all of them, it's one small part of a far bigger business:
- Game publishers that run their own leagues. Take-Two (TTWO) operates the NBA 2K League through its basketball franchise; Electronic Arts (EA) runs competitive circuits around its football and Apex Legends titles. Microsoft (MSFT) is now home to some of esports' best-known leagues (Call of Duty and Overwatch) after its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, though for a company Microsoft's size, esports is a rounding error against cloud and software. For all of them, esports is a marketing and engagement engine rather than a core profit centre.
- Media owners of esports teams. Comcast (CMCSA), via Comcast Spectacor, owns and operates esports teams and helped found a major competitive organisation, a reminder that "esports exposure" often sits inside a giant conglomerate where it barely moves the needle.
- The streaming platforms. Esports is watched overwhelmingly online, and the dominant platform, Twitch, is owned by Amazon (AMZN), while YouTube is owned by Alphabet (GOOGL). These are the "digital stadiums" of esports, but for both tech giants, streaming games is a rounding error against their core retail, cloud and advertising businesses.
- Chinese publishers. NetEase (NTES) and Bilibili (BILI) own teams and hold gaming/streaming assets central to the huge Asian esports scene.
- The hardware layer. Nvidia (NVDA) and peers supply the high-performance kit competitive gaming runs on, though esports is a tiny slice of a business now dominated by AI.
- Listed esports organisations and ETFs. A small number of actual esports teams are listed (such as NIP Group), and thematic ETFs bundle gaming-and-esports names together, though the listed teams in particular have often seen weak share prices, underlining how hard the economics are.
The pattern is telling: the most direct esports plays (the teams) have generally struggled as stocks, while the more resilient exposure comes from the diversified publishers, platforms and hardware makers around them.
What it means, and the honest caveats
For the region, this is a genuinely significant shift: a pivot from soft-power spending toward building a domestic technology sector, with real implications for jobs, investment and the Gulf's positioning in a fast-growing global industry.
But a strategic bet is not a guaranteed win, and it's worth being clear-eyed:
- Esports economics are still unproven. As we've seen globally, huge audiences haven't reliably translated into profits, even the biggest teams have struggled to make money.
- Building an industry takes time. Acquisitions and tournaments create momentum, but a self-sustaining ecosystem is a long-term project with no guaranteed payoff.
- There's no simple way to invest in "Saudi esports." PIF is a sovereign fund, and much of what it owns (like Savvy Games Group) is private. For investors, exposure to the gaming theme comes indirectly, through listed publishers, platforms and hardware makers, for whom this is one part of a much larger business.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Saudi Arabia's PIF pulling back from golf?
After investing more than $5 billion in LIV Golf since 2022, PIF confirmed it will end funding after the 2026 season, following years of heavy losses and limited market traction. It's part of a wider reset of its sports spending.
Is Saudi Arabia investing more in esports than sports now?
In its 2026–2030 strategy, PIF no longer lists "sport" as a dedicated sector, and the only sports-related area singled out is esports, framed as an industrial and technology investment. So while it has cut back on traditional sports, esports has been elevated as a priority.
What is the Esports World Cup?
It's a major annual competitive-gaming tournament hosted in Riyadh, featuring very large prize pools across multiple games. It has become central to Saudi Arabia's esports ambitions and a significant source of funding for professional teams.
Can you invest in Saudi Arabia's esports push directly?
Not really. PIF is a sovereign wealth fund, and assets like its Savvy Games Group are privately held. Investors can only gain indirect exposure to the broader gaming theme through listed companies such as publishers, platforms and hardware makers. Your capital is at risk.
How can I invest in gaming-related companies from the GCC?
Through listed publishers, streaming platforms and chipmakers connected to gaming. On the Nemo.money app you can explore these and global markets and invest from $1 with zero commission. This is not a recommendation and trading is risky.
Which listed companies have esports exposure?
Several publicly traded companies have documented esports involvement, though usually as one small part of a larger business. Examples include game publishers that run their own leagues, Take-Two (TTWO, the NBA 2K League), Electronic Arts (EA), and Microsoft (MSFT, which owns Activision's Call of Duty and Overwatch leagues); the streaming platforms where esports is watched, Twitch (owned by Amazon, AMZN) and YouTube (owned by Alphabet, GOOGL); media owners of teams like Comcast (CMCSA); Chinese publishers NetEase (NTES) and Bilibili (BILI); and the hardware maker Nvidia (NVDA). A small number of esports organisations are directly listed (such as NIP Group), and thematic ETFs bundle the sector. These are examples for research, not recommendations.
Is there a "pure" esports stock?
Not really. The handful of directly listed esports teams and organisations are small and have often seen weak share prices, reflecting how hard the economics are. Most investable exposure comes indirectly through diversified publishers, platforms and hardware makers, for whom esports is a minor part of the business.
The takeaway
Saudi Arabia's shift from golf to gaming is more than a change of hobby, it's a statement of intent. By stepping back from expensive foreign sports and elevating esports as an industry to build at home, PIF is signalling where it thinks long-term, high-tech growth lies, and putting the Gulf at the centre of one of the world's fastest-growing entertainment sectors. Whether the bet pays off will take years to judge. But for anyone in the region watching how the economy is evolving, the direction of travel is hard to miss: the future, in PIF's view, is being built on a screen.
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