The Esports Foundation (EF) has confirmed that the New Global Sport Conference (NGSC) will now take place in 2027, postponing its previously planned late-2026 iteration.
The executive gathering will return to its traditional mid-August window in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, aligning with the return of the Esports World Cup (EWC 2027) before leading into the inaugural Esports Nations Cup (ENC) scheduled for November 2027.
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The conference shift directly follows the Foundation’s decision to delay the inaugural Esports Nations Cup from November 2026 to November 2027. Initially, the NGSC had been scheduled to late October 2026 in Riyadh to serve as an executive curtain-raiser for the nation-based competition. However, following operational reviews and stakeholder consultations driven by ongoing Middle East geopolitical instability, which previously forced the EWC 2026 relocation to Paris, the Foundation opted to postpone the event to 2027 and consolidate its flagship business gathering back into its original summer footprint.
Despite the main conference’s postponement, the platform recently delivered its first international activation outside Saudi Arabia, hosting “NGSC Private”, a focused executive summit, alongside EWC 2026 in Paris. The 2027 edition will continue under its core theme, “Defining Victory,” exploring convergence across gaming, traditional sports, artificial intelligence, and global venture investment.
“Today, we shared that the New Global Sport Conference will now take place in 2027, following the decision to move the inaugural Esports Nations Cup to November next year,” stated Hans Jagnow, Director of Clubs, National Teams & Players at the Esports Foundation. “We’re currently planning for the main conference to return in its traditional mid-August window, aligning with EF’s wider tournament calendar and bringing together major competition with the conversations, connections, and opportunities that make NGSC unique.”
“We look forward to serving and integrating the wider industry back in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during an exciting summer around EWC27,” added Jagnow. “We know, how much appetite there is for open dialogue across gaming, esports, sport, technology and investment and what an important pillar NGSC has become.”
