Pokémon’s competitive scene is booming in Latin America, and The Pokémon Company wants to take it even further

The competitive Pokémon scene has been growing steadily across Latin America in recent years, and according to The Pokémon Company, there is still plenty of room for it to get bigger. The company says the interest from the community has been there for years, but it is now working to provide the infrastructure needed to accommodate more players and fans.

During an interview, Chris Brown, who oversees Pokémon’s events, discussed the growth the region has experienced and explained that one of the company’s priorities is expanding its event offering.

“I think we’re seeing growth globally, and particularly in Latin America,” Brown said. “On the event side, which is the area that I oversee, we’ve been doing more to invest in the supply side of that. So, larger venues, more support actually putting the events on, to allow for more players to compete and more people to attend.”

According to Brown, the goal is pretty straightforward: give more players the opportunity to compete while allowing more fans to attend Pokémon events. And for him, the interest from the community is nothing new.

“I think the interest from the community has been there for many years; maybe what was missing was having the infrastructure necessary to respond to that interest,” he explained.

Pokémon events in Latin America are selling out

Brown also highlighted the growth he has personally witnessed at events across the region. One example he remembered was the Pokémon GO Tour in São Paulo, where the response from fans was particularly strong.

“Every time I’ve gone to an event in Latin America — from that Pokémon GO Tour in São Paulo — we’ve had sold-out events,” Brown said.

The Pokémon Company is now aiming to maintain growth of around 20% per year in this area. The numbers coming out of São Paulo help explain why the company is so optimistic about the region.

Brown believes this year’s event could reach 10,000 attendees, up from approximately 7,000 people last year.

The growth becomes even more striking when compared with pre-COVID numbers. Before the pandemic, events in the region were attracting roughly 1,500 to 2,000 people.

“I think pretty much every year that I’ve gone, we’ve seen that growth, so we’re continuing to try to grow that around 20% annually,” he said.

Mexico is also playing an important role

Mexico is another market where The Pokémon Company is seeing significant growth. According to Brown, regional events in the country now average more than 1,500 attendees, with a significant portion of them being competitive players.

That is particularly important because it shows that the growth of the scene is not limited to major international events. There is also an active competitive community taking part in regional tournaments throughout the year.

For The Pokémon Company, the response has meant investing in larger venues and providing more support for event organizers.

“This is a conscious effort to get larger venues, support the community, and bring more people together,” Brown said.

The executive did point out that not every market is necessarily growing at the same pace. However, from the events side, the company plans to continue increasing its investment and supporting players across the region.

“We’re doing everything we can to increase our investment and support players so that they can come together, make friends and have these experiences, both from a competitive standpoint and just from their passion for Pokémon,” Brown concluded.

With the competitive Pokémon scene continuing to expand across Latin America, The Pokémon Company appears ready to keep increasing the size of its events to match the community’s growing interest.

And if the numbers from Mexico and Brazil are any indication, the region’s Pokémon competitive scene still has plenty of room to grow.