{"id":11702,"date":"2020-11-11T22:03:07","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T22:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=11702"},"modified":"2026-04-24T00:10:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T03:10:05","slug":"malaysia-to-invest-us3-6m-in-esports-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/malaysia-to-invest-us3-6m-in-esports-in-2021","title":{"rendered":"Malaysia to invest US$3.6m in esports in 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It will be the third year the national government has directed millions to develop the sector<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Malaysia.- For the third consecutive year, the Malaysian government has designated a sizeable investment in its financial budget to the local development of the esports sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next year&#8217;s budget designates RM15 million (US$3.6 million) to the segment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finance minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Aziz said the investment is part of a RM55 million (US$13.3 million) allocation for sports in the country. The total investment will be split among esports, developing female athletes and less prominent sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ministry of Youth and Sports is in charge of deciding how the esports budget will be used. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Experts, however, are not expecting <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/esports-betting-lockdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the growth seen by the sector<\/a><\/em><\/strong> to continue in the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2019, the Malaysian government allocated US$2.4 million for the purpose of developing a local esports sector. It invested US$4.8 million this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It will be the third year the national government has directed millions to develop the sector<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11704,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Malaysian government has allocated RM15 million (US$3.6 million) for esports development in its upcoming budget, marking the third consecutive year of significant investment in the sector. This funding is part of a larger RM55 million sports allocation, with the Ministry of Youth and Sports overseeing its deployment, though experts express caution regarding sustained long-term growth.","focusai_entities":"Malaysian government, Tengku Zafrul Tengku Aziz, Ministry of Youth and Sports","focusai_location":"Malaysia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.8), regulator (0.7), compliance_legal (0.7), operator_casino (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Malaysia Esports Policy","query":"How might the Malaysian government's sustained capital allocation to the esports vertical influence the development of future regulatory compliance frameworks or B2B\/B2C licensing structures for broader digital entertainment, including potential implications for iGaming market entry or expansion in Southeast Asia?"},{"label":"Investment Efficacy Analysis","query":"What specific metrics and governance frameworks will the Ministry of Youth and Sports employ to measure the return on investment (ROI) for this RM15 million allocation, and how will this impact the long-term capital markets outlook for digital entertainment sector growth in Malaysia, particularly concerning expert skepticism on sustained GGR expansion?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,158,16333],"tags":[12536,226],"class_list":["post-11702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-igaming-news","category-slider-home","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-esports","tag-malaysia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11702"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11722,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11702\/revisions\/11722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}