Madrid in Game, the initiative of the Madrid City Council aimed at boosting the video game industry and gamification, celebrates this Saturday and Sunday at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium a new edition of "Esports + Sports", a competition "that combines in a hybrid experience traditional sports and eSports".
The tournament takes place in the Fan Zone and in the Gaming House of the stadium, in collaboration with Atlético de Madrid, and this first day coincides with the LaLiga match that the rojiblanco team will play on Saturday against RC Deportivo, starting at 21:00 hours.
The delegated councilor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Ángel Niño, has attended the stadium this Saturday to learn firsthand about the proposal. "This initiative was born as a format that understands sports and video games as two sides of the same reality in which complementary skills such as physical coordination, real-time decision-making, or strategic capacity in digital environments must be tested," he explained.
As the delegated councilor has emphasized, new generations "naturally coexist between the physical and the digital" and, with this tournament, it is intended to "integrate the values of both disciplines and promote, on one hand, physical exercise and a healthy lifestyle and, on the other, foster concentration, problem-solving, and cognitive agility".
In "Esports + Sports", teams must perform both on the field and in front of the console. Each team will face its rivals in 3x3 football matches and in "EA Sports FC 27" matches, also in 3x3 format, so that the results of both modalities will be added to decide the winners of the competition.
The tournament is structured into three categories: Infantil, for players aged 12 to 15; Júnior, from 16 to 17 years; and Sénior, from 18 years onwards. In each category, up to 12 teams can participate, distributed into four groups of three, of which eight will advance to the knockout stage. Both football matches and console duels will last ten minutes, with a group stage, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final in all categories.
Bringing the potential of video games closer through sports
"Esports + Sports" seeks to test complementary skills such as physical coordination, real-time decision-making, or strategic ability in digital environments. The first edition, held at the Video Game Campus in 2023, established the foundations of a pioneering format that united 3x3 basketball and the video game "NBA 2K" in the same hybrid competition.
In 2024, the project incorporated qualifying phases in municipal sports centers and a grand final in Plaza de Colón, where the physical and the digital shared prominence in one of the most representative spaces of the capital. The 2025 edition was oriented towards soccer and was integrated into Madcup, the international grassroots football tournament.
In addition to the competitive component, the initiative aims to bring the potential of video games closer to the public, highlighting their value as a tool for personal development, learning, and socialization. In a scenario where new generations move naturally between the physical and the digital, "Esports + Sports" proposes an environment where both dimensions connect and mutually reinforce each other.