Pokémon North America International Championships Moving to Chicago in 2027
After three years of hosting the Pokémon North America International Championships (NAIC) in New Orleans, Louisiana, the event is set to relocate to Chicago, Illinois, in 2027. The announcement was made during the closing ceremonies of the 2024 NAIC. Chris Brown, Director of Global Esports and Events at The Pokémon Company International (TPCi), described New Orleans as “fantastic” but hinted that Chicago may offer even greater opportunities for the tournament. “It’s a world class city,” Brown said during a group interview. When planning events of this scale, TPCi considers several key factors, including geographical accessibility, potential for growth, and the city's appeal as a vacation destination. “Chicago checks all the boxes,” Brown added.
Geographical accessibility is one of the most critical factors for hosting a large-scale event like NAIC. According to FlightConnections.com, New Orleans has direct flights from 55 different airports in four countries. In contrast, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the largest in the United States, offers direct flights from 281 airports across 49 countries. “We have 48 countries and regions represented this weekend [in New Orleans], for example,” Brown said. “So having that accessibility is vital now for a show of this scale.” The NAIC has experienced significant growth in recent years, surpassing TPCi’s three-year attendance goal in just two years. Attendance has increased by more than 150% since the event’s inception. This year, every type of entry badge sold out, highlighting the growing demand for the tournament.
Despite the success in New Orleans, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, where the event has been held, is one of the largest in the world and highly sought after for other events. “Booking enough of that space simultaneously is a challenge considering that it’s so in demand by other events,” Brown explained. TPCi had even considered scaling back the competition portion of the event to accommodate more fan experiences in New Orleans. However, the primary goal of the NAIC is to host the international championships, and Brown wanted to ensure that the core audience was served first. “Chicago, for us, lets us grow the space,” Brown said. “We want to grow the competition, we want to grow our fan programming.”
TPCi has been working to balance the needs of both competitors and fans in its events. Last year, the company took a major step in this direction by pairing its first-ever PokémonXP fan celebration with the upcoming 2026 Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco, California. While Brown did not officially confirm whether Chicago will be the long-term home for the NAIC, it is known that TPCi had a three-year contract with the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Brown also mentioned that moving the Pokémon World Championships around yearly is “really, really hard to do.” “For an event organizer, the best thing you can do is hold the same show in the same location at roughly the same time. Like that's the organizer's dream,” he said.
Chicago is already home to several major Pokémon-related events and attractions. The city hosts the annual Pokémon GO Fest in May and is also home to the Pokémon Fossil Museum, a temporary exhibit at the Field Museum. As of now, the Pokémon Fossil Museum is set to move on before next year’s NAIC. The shift to Chicago signals a new chapter for the Pokémon North America International Championships, offering new opportunities for growth and expansion.
