The Lebanese team’s qualification in the electronic basketball games competitions was not just a passing event, but rather a complete achievement that began with the Middle East region qualifiers, and concluded with a decisive victory over the Saudi team in the final match in the “eFIBA” tournament based on the “NBA 2K” game.
On its way to this victory, the Lebanese team defeated its Jordanian counterpart in the semi-finals of the upper track, achieving a total of 151 points to 124, after winning the first match with a score of 85 to 59, then ending the second match with a score of 66 to 65.
But the most important stop was facing the Saudi national team in the final in a “best of three matches” system. The Lebanese team won the first match with a score of 71 to 59, then lost the second match with a score of 60 to 71, before deciding the third match with a narrow margin with a score of 89 to 87, and crowned the series with a score of 2-1, confirming that the qualification ticket was not achieved by chance, but rather by steadfastness and focus under pressure.
The next step is quite obvious. The Cedar team will head to the World Finals in Doha at the end of April, where it will participate in a group of eight teams representing the most prominent schools in the world of electronic basketball, and the competition will take place for the title to win a total financial prize of $50,000, which will be distributed to the winners and achievers in the finals.
If the Lebanese scene is at the forefront of the news, it carries broader Arab connotations. The importance of electronic games in our region lies in the large youth base and the long time that young people spend on digital platforms, which has turned electronic sports into a new representation space for countries and federations, and a professional path for players, coaches, and content makers, and not just “on-screen” competition.
On the economic front, this sector is no longer marginal. PwC expects global esports revenues to reach about $1.86 billion by 2025, indicating an expanding commercial market associated with tournaments, sponsorships and broadcast rights. When we search for “big money” in the region, it is sufficient to point out that the E-Sports World Cup announced a prize pool exceeding $60 million in its inaugural edition, which reflects the Middle East region’s transition to a center of gravity on the global prize map.
In the Arab world, especially in the Gulf region, this field is progressing to become an integrated economy. The economic contribution of the gaming and e-sports sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is expected to reach $13.3 billion by 2030, with the creation of approximately 39,000 jobs. Savvy report data also shows that the gaming market in Saudi Arabia achieved approximately $1.19 billion in 2024, with expectations to reach $1.64 billion by 2028.
In the broader region, Niko Partners estimates the MENA-3 gaming market at approximately $2.0 billion in 2024, with expected growth to $2.8 billion in 2029, and a player population of 72 million by the end of 2024.
In light of these data, Lebanon’s qualification for Doha becomes more than just a result. It is an entry into a rapidly expanding global arena, where power today is measured not only by the number of points on the field, but also by the number of victories on servers, and by the size of the economy these competitions generate.
