• Sportswear giant will help boost Saudi gamers’ fitness, performance

Shane McGinley

DUBAI: German sportswear giant Adidas has signed a partnership deal with the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports (SAFEIS), the official regulator in charge of developing the Kingdom’s fast-growing gaming sector.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the federation and Adidas Emerging Markets, a division of the brand in the GCC.

The partnership will encourage the Kingdom’s gamers to be more active and to boost their fitness levels, helping to improve their gaming speed and reaction times.

Greater mental agility will also make them more competitive against their global peers.

“Professional (electronic sports) players experience similar physical stresses as actual athletes — the lines between sports and e-sports are blurring, and ensuring our professional players have a balanced lifestyle is beneficial to their overall health and their gaming performances,” said Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, president of SAFEIS and the Arab Esports Federation.

Gianni Conti, Adidas general manager for the GCC, said that the company was the first sports brand to partner with SAFEIS.

The partnership will help “make Saudis among the most fit and active gamers in the world,” he added.

The global gaming market grew by 9.6 percent last year and is estimated to be worth around $152.1 billion.

Saudi Arabia’s gaming market was valued at around $837 million in 2019 and is one of the fastest growing in the world, expanding by about 22.5 percent a year.

SAFEIS was established in 2017 to take advantage of this growth and develop the Kingdom into a global hub for the industry.