The Esports World Cup Foundation announced the speaker line-up for the second annual New Global Sport Conference, taking place at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Aug. 24 – 25. According to the reveal, around 48 professionals from the world of esports, gaming, sports, entertainment, and finance will take part in the two-day event, which will also coincide with the Esports Awards (who earlier this year signed a three-year deal to host the ceremony in Riyadh).
The conference features some notable companies/organizations in the esports space including The Story Mob, Esports World Cup Foundation, ESL FACEIT Group, Savvy Games Group, Fnatic, T1, Gen.G Esports, Team Liquid, aXiomatic Gaming, Saudi Esports Federation, and more.
This year’s conference is important to pay attention to because, at its inaugural event in October, the Esports World Cup Foundation was formally unveiled alongside a rebrand of Gamers8 to the Esports World Cup. This year we suspect that more details could be revealed about other Saudi government-backed initiatives including the Esports Olympic Games, the Qiddiya City Club Program, and the Esports World Cup Foundation Club Support Program). Perhaps there will be some announcements on which stakeholders and IP owners are going to provide their games for the first Olympic Esports Games in 2025.
Below is the complete list of confirmed speakers, so far:
Esports:
- HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud – Chairman, Saudi Esports Federation
- Ralf Reichert – CEO, Esports World Cup Foundation
- Faisal Mohammed Bin Homran – Chief Product Officer, Esports World Cup Foundation
- Fabian Scheuermann – Chief Games Officer, Esports World Cup Foundation
- Craig Levine – Co-CEO, ESL Faceit Group
- Michal Blicharz – VP Product Development, ESL Faceit Group
- Sam Mathews – Club CEO, Fnatic
- Joe Marsh – CEO, T1 Entertainment & Sports
- Steve Arhancet – Co-CEO, Team Liquid
- Arnold Hur – CEO, Gen.G Esports
- Bruce Stein – Founder, aXiomatic Gaming
- Stefy Bau – Founder and CEO, Init Esports
Gaming:
- Brian Ward – CEO, Savvy Games Group
- Toshimoto Mitomo – Executive Deputy President and CSO, Sony Group Corporation
- Maya Rogers – CEO, Tetris
- Shuji Utsumi – President & COO, SEGA Corporation
- Tim Morten – Co-Founder and CEO, Frost Giant Studios
- Dan Bunting – Former Co-Head, Treyarch Studios & Game Director, Call of Duty
- Jonny Ebbert – Chief Creative Officer, Bungie
- Yannick Theler – CEO, Steer Studios
- Ghada Alhudaithi – Co-Founder, Table Knight Games
- Mathilde Pignol – Co-Founder and CCO, Roboto Games
- Nicola Mizon – COO & Co-Founder, Kutur Runway, Vizta DGTL
- Dr. Heba Atyah – CEO & Founder, GameIT
Sports:
- Eric Shanks – CEO and Executive Producer, Fox Sports
- Peter Hutton – Board Director, Saudi Pro League
- MJ Acosta-Ruiz – Sportscaster, ESPN
- Greg Norman – Commissioner & CEO, LIV Golf
- Ricardo Fort – Founder, Sport by Fort Consulting
Creatives & Marketing:
- Anna Rozwandowicz – CEO, The Story Mob
- R.J. Cutler – Emmy Winning Documentary Filmmaker
- Maha Abouelenein – CEO, Digital and Savvy
- Nate Morley – Founder of Works Collective
- OJ Borg – Broadcaster / Executive Producer, STNDRD Films
- Nick Brown – Partner, Executive Producer, Good Boy Creative
- Khaled Makhshoush – Digital Artist
- Reem AlKanhal – Creative Director & Fashion Designer
Investment/Finance:
- Sir Leonard Blavatnik – Founder, Access Industries
- Dr. Songyee Yoon – Managing Partner, Principal Venture Partners
- Jens Hilgers – General Partner & Co-Founder, BITKRAFT Ventures
- Joe Pompliano – Managing Partner, Pomp Investments
Athletes/Players:
- Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo – CS2 Player, FURIA Esports
- Magnus Carlsen – World Chess Champion
- Jann Mardenborough– Professional Racing Driver
Others:
- Bilal Fares – SVP & General Manager, Adidas EMC Market
- Nanea Reeves – CEO & CO-Founder of TRIPP
- Lisa Cosmas Hanson – CEO, Niko Partners
- Andrew Chen – General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
This year’s conference will focus on several topics, but the overall theme is “the future of fandom.” Last week the Esports World Cup Foundation announced that the Olympic Esports Games will also be a major topic of conversation. Other topics include “Becoming a Modern Sports Hero”, “Game On, Saudi Arabia”, “Building a New Global Sport”, and “Navigating Growth in Games & Entertainment” (specific details on the meaning of these topics and who will be speaking about them was not disclosed).
More details about this year’s event can be found at newglobalsportconference.com.
The Esports World Cup and Esports World Cup Foundation are funded by a grant from the Saudi Arabian government, while competitions are being facilitated by ESL FACEIT Group, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Savvy Games Group—which in turn is owned by the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund and its Chairman of the board is Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler HRH Crown Prince MBS.
The Saudi Arabian government has been under fire for what critics call “sports washing,” or using sports and other forms of entertainment as a cover for its record on human rights, women’s rights, and military actions in Yemen, among other things, highlighted by international watchdog groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.