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Sensape took part in the German business delegation to Riyadh and Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, from 12 to 15 September 2026, focused on the sports, entertainment and events industry. The trip is part of the Market Entry Programme for SMEs (MEP) run by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), coordinated by Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) and delivered by HFP GmbH together with Elements Inspire and Bundesliga Media (DFL). The Leipzig-based company joined as a participating SME and as a speaker at the Saudi-German Sports Innovation Roundtable on 13 September at the Ministry of Investment (MISA).
Why Sensape joined the delegation
Sensape joined the delegation because the Saudi sports and events market is asking the exact question Sensape has answered since 2015: how does visitor presence turn into a measurable digital experience? The programme connected German SMEs from sports technology, venue technology and media with Saudi institutions. It included the roundtable at the Ministry of Investment, a reception at the German Embassy in Riyadh, a visit to the Diriyah development project and a Saudi Pro League match at SHG Arena.
B2B meetings included the Royal Commission for AlUla, the Saudi Esports Federation, the Saudi Pro League, the Riyadh Chamber and the Sports Boulevard Foundation. For Sensape, the subject was not hardware procurement but the role interactive fan activations play in venues that are still being built.
What Saudi Arabia is building in sports and events
Saudi Arabia is building its sports and events sector under Vision 2030 as a core pillar of economic diversification. According to the programme organisers, the Saudi sports market was valued at around USD 8.4 billion in 2024 and is forecast to exceed USD 22 billion by 2030 (HFP GmbH press release on the MEP project). GTAI reports that the MEED Projects database lists planned and ongoing sports venue construction worth more than USD 20 billion.
The pipeline behind it is specific:
- AFC Asian Cup 2027 in Saudi Arabia
- Expo 2030 in Riyadh
- FIFA World Cup 2034 in Saudi Arabia
- Sports Boulevard — a 135-kilometre sports and leisure corridor across Riyadh
- Diriyah and Qiddiya as culture, tourism and entertainment destinations
- Saudi Pro League with 18 clubs and a transformation strategy running since 2023
For providers of visitor technology, the procurement cycle does not start in five years. It has started.
Fan data is created at the physical touchpoint
Fan data is created where the fan physically stands — in the stadium, the arena, the fan village, the activation area. That was the core message Sensape brought to Riyadh. Many rights holders in the market want reach and first-party fan data but do not yet operate a mature app ecosystem. A Sensape station removes that prerequisite: the fan interacts on site, receives a personalised result — a virtual selfie with a player, a game score, a try-on — and the operator receives a clean, consent-based first-party record in return.
What Sensape presented in Riyadh was a touchpoint logic rather than a single product: fan zone, stadium, LED wall, retail area and cultural pavilion as one connected activation chain on a single platform. At the Saudi Esports Federation the system ran live: visitors stepped in front of the camera and received their own image alongside a player seconds later. The central building block is Allstars — virtual selfies with players, deployed by FC Bayern München and Paris Saint-Germain, among others.
Alongside it: the Phantastic Portal as an activation station, AR Games for skill and luck mechanics, AI Avatars for multilingual visitor guidance, WebAR for app-free activations on the visitor's own phone, and Virtual Try-On for merchandising at the point of sale.
Retrofit beats waiting for new builds
Retrofit is the faster route in the Saudi market because existing venues can be used today while new ones open years from now. Sensape systems are modular and integrate into existing venue infrastructure — temporarily for a single match, a season or a tournament, or permanently as a fixed installation. No construction phase and no changes to building services are required; floor space, power and network are enough.
That makes it possible to test a fan engagement concept in an existing stadium before specifying it into a new-build project. For operators running several venues in parallel, it is the lower-risk entry point.
Three takeaways from Riyadh
The three main takeaways from Riyadh concern demand, data and speed:
- The market buys experience, not technology. Buyers ask about visitor impact, dwell time and measurable return — not resolution, sensors or compute.
- Fan data is the bottleneck, not the attraction. Attractions are plentiful in this market. The bottleneck is the clean, consent-based link between a physical experience and the CRM.
- Speed is the differentiator. The time between project idea and opening in Saudi Arabia undercuts European planning logic. Starting to think after the tender is published is too late.
One structural observation on top: local integration, import, operation and billing are part of the product in the Kingdom, not an afterthought. A capable local partner is a precondition, not an option.
What happens next
Following the delegation trip, Sensape is deepening the contacts made in Riyadh and developing fan activation concepts for venues in the region. Delegation formats such as the Market Entry Programme open doors that are hard to open alone — but they do not replace sales work. The real work starts after the return flight.
Planning a fan engagement or brand activation project in the region? Comparable deployments are documented in the projects overview. For specific enquiries: get in touch.
About Sensape
Sensape GmbH, headquartered in Leipzig, develops interactive AR and AI brand experiences for events, trade shows, retail and fan engagement since 2015. Core products: Phantastic Portal, Allstars, AR Games, WebAR, Virtual Try-On and AI Avatars. Clients include FC Bayern München, Paris Saint-Germain, Disney, Porsche, Swarovski, Toyota and 300+ brands across 40+ countries. Sensape bridges the gap between the physical and the digital world at the exact point where brand and person meet. All references: projects overview.
