58 ESPORTS BLAST CABSAT
CABSAT, the Middle East’s largest broadcast tradeshow, will feature a new esports showcase. The region has a huge audience for esports and not much localised esports content, but may be about to change. ESPORTS HITS MENA
here is a global mania for esports. New federations, leagues, teams and channels are springing up all over the place. Until recently,
platform to use to market their content. If I’m an Iraqi creator I have trouble reaching a Saudi Audience, for instance. Or if my platform of choice is YouTube, I won’t get the Twitch audience. We need an outlet for regional creators to reach their full audience which, at the moment, is very, very difficult.” ESPORTS MIDDLE EAST Saeed Sharaf is at the centre of esports development in MENA. He is the CEO of Esports Middle East which organises tournaments, produces content and works with governments in establishing national esports federations. He is also the president of the Syrian Esports Association, which was founded last year, and a board member of the World Esports Consortium. “Right now, esports is producing some exciting content, whether it’s on IPTV, linear TV, or even airlines, and CABSAT has opened the gates to esports for the Middle East,” says Sharaf. “The CABSAT Esports Showcase will allow esports league owners
esports and gaming entertainment has been dominated by English-speaking outlets. This has had the effect of marginalising sizeable audience segments – and players – around the world. As a result, localised esports networks, with support from regional federations, are starting to take charge of their own destinies. Last autumn, Spanish broadcaster Mediapro launched U-Beat, a Spanish-language esports network which will have a presence in Europe and Latin America. And now the Arabic-speaking world is launching its own initiatives. MENA’s broadcast trade show, CABSAT, will include a new esports conference this year. The esports showcase will give CABSAT’s broadcast delegates an inside view of the sector and the opportunities for content makers and distributors. As well as panels and keynotes, the showcase includes
an invite-only executive networking event. Eric Husny is the founder of esports start- up Rawa.TV, a platform for Arabic-speaking esports athletes and audiences. Rawa.TV is one of the founding partners of the CABSAT Esports Showcase and will be giving one of its keynotes. Husny, based in Lebanon, is the founder of AGC (Arab Gaming Championship) which created esports events and content aimed at the Arab world. “The problem we’re trying to solve is the segregation of the Arabic gaming community,” says Husny. “Most content creators right now have to choose which
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