October 22 – When Paris Saint-Germain entered esports in 2016, it was seen as an experiment in branding. Nine years later, it has become one of the club’s core sporting arms – a deliberate, strategic tool for expanding PSG’s global reach beyond traditional football audiences.
Nadia Benmokhtar, PSG’s Diversification and Merchandising Director and a former professional footballer, in an interview with esports news said the logic behind the investment has always been clear.
“It’s to grow the audience across different touchpoints, increase brand exposure, and diversify that audience,” she said in an interview with esports news.
“We want to target people who are not necessarily football fans at the beginning. With esports, you can create a different kind of connection.”
PSG’s early entry into competitive gaming set it apart from the offset. While the large majority of football clubs have understandably restricted themselves to EA FC (formerly FIFA), PSG took the risk of developing further by fielding teams in the uber-competitive spheres of League of Legends, Dota 2, Rainbow Six, and Arena of Valor.
“If we enter esports, we need to target big games with big audiences,” Benmokhtar explains. “We were the first football club to have teams wearing our jersey on the stage for League of Legends and Dota. We wanted to be bold.”
That approach reflects PSG’s broader positioning as a growing multi-sport organisation. Alongside men’s and women’s football, handball, and judo, esports is treated internally with the respect of a full sporting section – one designed to connect the club with younger, more digitally native audiences.
“We aim to be the club of the new generation,” says Benmokhtar. “And when you say new generation, of course gaming should be part of it.”
Rather than running every team directly, PSG has built its esports presence through partnerships with established structures – collaborating with French powerhouse Team Vitality and Asia-Pacific’s Talon Esports to push the club into new markets and fan communities while maintaining the highest performance standards of their new partners and their roster of athletes.
“You cannot become a gaming expert overnight,” says Benmokhtar. “That’s why we rely on partners who know the market better than us. As PSG, we bring value in terms of brand and performance expertise. They bring deep knowledge of the esports ecosystem. It’s about joining forces.”
That combination has proven effective, particularly in Asia – where it is important to note that esports is at its most popular. Through a partnership with Talon, PSG now competes in League of Legends and Rainbow Six under the PSG Talon banner, connecting the club to fans across Hong Kong, Korea, and Thailand.
“Asia was one of the key territories for us when we launched,” Benmokhtar noted.
“Through esports, we can connect with audiences where French football has limited visibility.”
A previous collaboration with China’s LGD Gaming on Dota 2 also gave PSG global exposure.
“When our players entered the stage at The International wearing PSG jackets, they sold out on our e-commerce site the next day,” she says. “You can see the direct link.”
For now, PSG view esports primarily as a vehicle for brand expansion rather than as a profit driver.
“If you look at finance, not yet,” admits Benmokhtar. “But if you look at brand exposure, fan engagement, brand coolness — yes, the return is there.”
She also pointed to a growing overlap between football and gaming audiences, especially through EA FC titles, but insists conversion to football fandom is not the goal.
“If you love PSG because of League of Legends, that’s enough for me,” she says. “We don’t need every fan to become a football fan. We just want them to be part of the PSG family.”
The focus, she says, is on long-term engagement. PSG’s esports arm is building fan databases, improving regional merchandising, and exploring content and event collaborations designed for both gaming and football supporters.
“If a fan in Hong Kong loves our esports team and wants to buy a PSG Talon jersey, we want to make that possible,” she says. “That’s part of developing this community properly.”
Esports has also opened new pathways for PSG beyond competition. The club says it is now exploring gaming academies, licensing opportunities, and virtual events that merge football, fashion, and music.
“We entered esports through the competitive side,” Benmokhtar said. “But now we see a lot of other roads to explore — casual gaming, events, content creation, even gaming experiences tied to PSG’s cultural identity.”
Last year, PSG launched a virtual activation on Roblox, attracting over eight million players. The next frontier, Benmokhtar hints, could be mobile esports – a fast-growing sector in Asia due to its ease-of-use and significantly larger potential audience. Whilst many esports require a PC or gaming console, mobile esports asks for just your phone.
“We are exploring another mobile game,” she confirms. “We already have Arena of Valor in Thailand, but we’re watching the market closely.”
The interview also delved into the club’s partnership with Vitality, which could also extend into joint events in Paris, connecting both club and esports communities.
“It’s just the beginning,” says Benmokhtar. “Vitality are best-in-class in entertainment and events. We have a lot of ideas – from B2B experiences to youth programmes that combine football and gaming.”
For PSG, experimentation comes with risk. The club’s foray into Fortnite in the US was short-lived, something Benmokhtar says they learned from.
“We can take risks, but we don’t want to be mercenaries,” she says. “We don’t want to just enter, take, and leave. We want sustainable, respectful links with fans. That’s always where you need to find the right balance.”
That mindset underpins PSG’s approach to innovation in its entirety.
“It’s in PSG’s DNA to test and learn,” she says. “You cannot innovate without taking some risks — but you have to do it responsibly.”
As the boundaries between sport, entertainment, and technology continue to blur, PSG’s esports model may point towards how elite clubs will operate in the next decade: part sporting institution, part digital brand, part global entertainment company.
For now, Benmokhtar’s goal is clear.
“We just want to make sure that wherever the next generation of fans are – in the stadium, on a stream, or in a game – PSG is there too.”
To see the full interview in esports news, click here.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1761195491labto1761195491ofdlr1761195491owedi1761195491sni@g1761195491niwe.1761195491yrrah1761195491