After being run by Webedia for the past two years, the
EMEA Masters are now managed by
N.E.O. (New Esports Org), a newly created French company. According to information available on the company’s website, the project is led by Bertrand Amar and Matthieu Dallon, two well-known figures in the French esports industry, and will notably take over a large portion of Webedia’s event portfolio. In addition to the EMEA Masters, this includes EVO France, the
League of Legends Game Changers circuit, and the EVA Pro League, a virtual reality FPS competition.
Amar and Dallon previously served as Webedia’s former director of esports operations and the founder of the ESWC (Esports World Convention) brand, respectively. Beyond creating ESWC, the predecessor to the Esports World Cup, Dallon also founded Trust Esport, an investment fund behind initiatives such as Prodigy Agency and the EVA (Esports Virtual Arenas) venues. Notably, N.E.O. has also confirmed it holds the media rights for the Esports Nations Cup in France. This connection between Saudi Arabia and the company is hardly surprising, considering that the Esports World Cup Foundation, which operates both the EWC and the ENC, acquired the ESWC brand rights several years ago.
On that front, N.E.O. has also submitted a bid alongside the
UFCEP to become the national partner responsible for managing Team France within the framework of the Esports Nations Cup. The competition, scheduled to take place this November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will feature national teams competing across 16 titles, including
League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, VALORANT, and
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. For now, however, the bid does not guarantee that N.E.O. will represent France, as the Esports World Cup Foundation has not yet announced the results of its tender process.
