The Esports Foundation has disclosed the commercial framework guiding national team jersey sponsorships ahead of the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC) 2026.

Speaking exclusively to The Esports Radar, Mohammed Al Nimer, Chief Commercial Officer at the Esports Foundation, outlined a streamlined commercial strategy designed to balance monetisation with national team design heritage.

Commercial real estate on official match kit is strictly restricted to a single sleeve slot, leaving the front of the jersey free of title sponsors. This is a move, according to Al Nimer, to protect the visual identity and cultural representation of national team uniforms. Global athletic brand Adidas serves as the sole kit provider across all participating national delegations, requiring all teams to wear the official Adidas ENC uniform during qualifiers, friendly matches, and main tournament play, regardless of pre-existing team apparel deals.

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“We really wanted to make sure the design is very representative of the countries, and for those jerseys to be really cool jerseys that people would want to wear,” said Al Nimer.

The sleeve inventory will operate under a flexible hybrid sales model. Sponsorship rights can be commercialised directly by local National Team Partners within their respective territories or sold centrally by the Esports Foundation for multinational brands seeking specific national team alignment.

Generated revenue will be distributed via a variable revenue-share model between the Esports Foundation and National Team Partners based on sales origination, minus centralised manufacturing and logo-application costs. “There is a revenue share, but it depends on who brings the brand. If it’s the Foundation that is leading the sales and doing everything, the revenue share is different than if the national team partner is doing it,” Al Nimer explained.

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Furthermore, commercial categories such as gambling remain strictly regulated or prohibited in alignment with game publisher guidelines and local legislation, with every deal subject to final approval by the Esports Foundation. “We need to ensure that this is done in a brand safe way, so the whole ecosystem is growing in a healthy way,” stated Al Nimer.

Al Nimer confirmed that official ENC jerseys will follow traditional sports retail distribution models across online and physical retail channels, with an announcement to be revealed at the following weeks. Individual jersey reveals have already commenced, led by the French national team uniform currently on physical display at the Adidas flagship store on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, ahead of its retail launch.

“They will be widely available online and offline. I’ll keep the surprise a little bit, but there are some cool things that we’re preparing,” Al Nimer added. “We’re making sure that the jerseys are available as much as possible for the people to buy them.”

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