New Orleans apparently isn’t big enough to accommodate Pokémon‘s rapid growth. After a wild three-year run of filling the Big Easy with thousands of cardboard-slinging, video-game-battling trainers, the tournament is packing up its bags. Starting in 2027, NAIC is officially moving to McCormick Place in Chicago.
According to Pokémon’s Director of Global Esports and Events, Chris Brown, the North American International Championship grew 150% faster than anyone anticipated. There is no denying that Pokémon has grown, but the company’s decisions regarding this rise in popularity have remained questionable.
Is Chicago the right choice? While Chicago is a lock for 2027, the move has reignited a massive, long-simmering debate across the fandom. If this event is supposed to represent all of North America, why does it feel like the United States has a permanent monopoly on hosting duties?
The Pokémon Community Debates United States For NAIC
For years, international players have dropped subtle — and not-so-subtle — hints that they would love to see NAIC head north of the border. Canada has a massive, dedicated Pokémon community, great venues, and cities like Toronto and Vancouver that could easily host a major international tournament.
So why hasn’t it happened yet?
The argument for keeping it local usually boils down to pure logistics. Over on X, one fan laid out the reality check quite bluntly, saying that expecting NAIC to be anywhere besides the US is kind of nuts.
They pointed out that the vast majority of North America’s player base lives in the US, and expecting thousands of people to have the money to travel to Canada or suddenly go buy a passport is completely unrealistic. In their eyes, moving the tournament out of the States would cause record-low attendance, which is the exact opposite of what a growing esport wants to do.
There are some good points here, of course. If you want to keep events accessible to the highest number of local players, you put the event where the dense clusters of those players actually live.
On the other hand, the counter-argument is just as compelling, and it points out a pretty massive blind spot in the “keep it in America” logic. Another fan quickly fired back on X, reminding everyone that getting a passport is easy (I’d say this depends). Plus, flying to San Francisco for the Worlds locale is a much farther trip for many Americans than a quick hop over to Toronto would be.
It sounds funny, but for a player living in New York, Michigan, or Ohio, Toronto is practically a neighbor compared to a cross-country flight to California or a trek down to New Orleans.
The Bigger Problem With U.S. Esports Tournaments
But is this really just about convenience? I think not, personally. Right now, a lot of esports scenes are fighting against hosting massive tournaments in the United States.
Head of League of Legends Esports, Chris Greeley, faced a lot of backlash after announcing that the First Stand would be in the United States. After witnessing so many visa issues at previous events, many demanded answers as to why another big tournament was being held in a country run by a xenophobic administration that was making entry quite difficult.
“Six out of eight rosters are struggling with visa issues,” said Tanner “Damonte” Damonte, coach for Shopify Rebels, in an interview with Sheep Esports at the beginning of 2026.
But a lot of fans questioned if pros should even enter the country due to ongoing ICE raids and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric plaguing the United States. Was it even a place fans would want to risk traveling to for an esports event?
Then, Evo Vegas — once the most prestigious and important fighting game event of the year — had record-low registration in 2026. This was largely due to the skyrocketing costs of flights and hotels in the United States. Many fighting game pros couldn’t afford it.
Or simply didn’t want to. There’s really no point spending all that money to fly to Las Vegas when there are now 230584230489 Evo tournaments popping up all around the world.
The same issues are present for the Pokémon community. There are players from all over the world hoping to qualify for Worlds, and NAIC is one of the most important stops on their journey. But shelling out all that dough for a plane ticket, risking travel complications, and feeling unwelcome and unsafe have to be taken into consideration.
If The Pokémon Company truly wants to live up to the “International” part of the North American International Championships, they eventually have to reckon with the rest of the continent.
Chicago will be an incredible host city for 2027. It is a massive airline hub, it has the space to accommodate the explosive growth Chris Brown talked about, and it keeps things central for the core US audience. But as the community continues to globalize, the pressure to look beyond American borders will only grow.
Meanwhile, at least we won’t have to compete in the extreme humidity of New Orleans. But I’ll definitely miss the live band opening ceremony and great restaurants. But this was bound to happen. Pokémon just isn’t the same anymore. Might as well stuff us into Chicago.