At the initiative of the City of Paris and Paris je t’aime – Tourist Office, a task force to facilitate the hosting of major eSport events was created on 16 May 2023. It was set up in the presence of Pénélope Komitès, deputy mayor in charge of innovation and preparing Paris for 2030, as well as ensuring its appeal and resilience, and Karim Ziady, advisor to Pierre Rabadan in charge of sport and eSport, with support from a number of other major Paris bodies.
Aim: turn France’s capital city into a key destination for this sector, establishing it as an eSport leader in Europe over the next five years. With 10.8 million people engaging in and watching eSport in France, it is vital for ensuring the city's economic and tourist appeal.
Paris je t’aime has been appointed by the City of Paris to coordinate the eSport task force. It seeks to support applications to host these flagship events, providing organisers with concrete support in relation to hosting, making iconic venues available and implementing specific initiatives for hosting venues (organising events, facilitating stays for players, managing fan zones, etc.). By doing this, the event becomes woven into the city, and the economic fabric and charities become involved across the capital and nationwide.
This collective synergy will ensure that tournaments end up being more responsible and sustainable, and the shared aim of creating a positive and inclusive heritage for Paris will be achieved.
Supported by the various stakeholders involved, event areas, innovative technical resources and its central position in Europe, Paris can be sure of having very best assets to succeed with this challenge. The French capital has already hosted a number of major events, including the 2019 League of Legends, the 2022 Trackmania Cup and the .
These commitments will be formalised in a special charter based on the template for hosting major events in Paris. This gets business tourism professionals on site, thus ensuring an optimised event experience.
Bringing together the teams of Pénélope Komitès (deputy mayor in charge of innovation and preparing Paris for 2030, as well as ensuring its appeal and resilience), Frédéric Hocquard (deputy mayor in charge of tourism and nightlife) and Pierre Rabadan (deputy mayor of Paris in charge of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Seine), it has brought together Paris je t’aime, major events venues (Viparis, GL events and the Accor Arena), as well as corporate players with support from Paris&Co, France eSport and SELL (France's union of leisure software writers developers).
eSport is a fast-growing sector which continues to break records. Globally, it looks set to be worth some US$1.86 billion by 2025, and will be enjoyed by 640.8 million spectators. France is one of the primary players on the European videogames market (US$24 million in 2018).
In 2023, Paris is back on the top step of the podium as the leading destination for hosting international congresses, as it was before the health crisis. Over the past 10 years, Paris has always ranked in one of the top three places in the ICCA rankings, and in 1st place 7 times.
