Move Sports in 2025: A Year of Growth, First Editions and Global Teams in Portugal
Move Sports in 2025: A Year of Growth, First Editions and Global Teams in Portugal
2025 was one of those years that remind you why sport matters. Not just for the competition, but for everything around it: the planning, the travel, the shared moments between teams from different cultures, and the quiet pride of seeing people enjoy Portugal through the game.
At Move Sports, 2025 was defined by growth and consistency, but also by something new. We expanded our flagship tournament calendar, launched first editions, welcomed teams from across the world, and delivered experiences that went far beyond match day. Here is what that year looked like, in numbers and in impact.
Seven international tournaments, including two first editions
In 2025, Move Sports organised seven international flagship tournaments in Portugal, including the first edition of the Portugal Rugby Youth Festival Autumn Series and the first edition of the Portugal Netball Festival.
The dates were:
Dove Men+Care Portugal Rugby Youth Festival: 12–13 April
Lisbon Basketball Youth Cup: 21–22 June
Portugal Volleyball Festival: 28–29 June
Portugal Summer Football Cup: 28–29 June
Lisbon Football Youth Cup: 25–26 October
Portugal Rugby Youth Festival Autumn Series: 25–26 October
Portugal Netball Festival: 01–02 November
Each event brought its own energy and identity, but together they shaped a year that was bigger than any single weekend.
A global community in Lisbon, powered by sport
Across our tournaments alone, we welcomed more than 5,300 participants and 240 teams, including over 100 international teams travelling to Portugal from a wide range of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, Belgium, and others.
The combined impact on the destination was clear. These tournaments generated more than 12,500 hotel nights in the Lisbon area, reinforcing the role that international youth sport can play in local tourism and hospitality.
On the field, the scale was equally strong: around 678 matches, totalling over 400 hours of game time, supported by 108 referees. Behind every one of those figures is a demanding operational effort, from venue management and scheduling to staff coordination and on-site support, delivered with the same objective every time: making it easy for teams to focus on performance and experience.
Tours that extended the Move Sports experience beyond tournaments
Beyond our tournaments, Move Sports delivered a busy calendar of international sports tours throughout 2025.
In total, we organised around 18 sports tours separate from tournaments, involving teams and groups across sports such as rugby, football, basketball and field hockey. Some of these tours were multi-sport, bringing together at least two different sports within the same travel programme.
This is one of the most distinctive strengths of Move Sports tours: the ability to host different teams, from different sports, within the same tour structure, while still ensuring each group has the right facilities, schedule and competitive opportunities, with friendly fixtures at an appropriate level.
The 590 participants in these tours travelled from countries including Qatar, France, Poland, Latvia, Belgium, the United States, Zimbabwe, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England and Spain, further reinforcing Portugal’s position as a trusted destination for international sports travel.
Corporate events with sport at their core
In parallel, Move Sports also delivered four corporate events in 2025, engaging companies and 4753 participants through sport-led experiences. These events welcomed participants from multiple international markets.
Together with our sports tours, corporate events contributed significantly to the year’s overall impact, demonstrating how sport can be used not only for competition and development, but also for engagement, team building and shared experience in a professional context.
A strong contribution to tourism and the local economy
Move Sports activities combined in 2025 generated over 15,700 hotel nights in Portugal, the majority in the Lisbon region.
This sustained flow of international visitors had a direct impact on hotels, restaurants, transport providers and local services, underlining the growing role of sports travel as a driver of year-round tourism. Beyond the numbers, it also reinforced Portugal’s reputation as a welcoming, well-organised and high-quality destination for international sporting events.
Why 2025 mattered
The strongest years are not only measured in numbers, but in what those numbers represent. In 2025, Move Sports continued to prove that sports travel can be both high-quality and seamless, with experiences that combine competitive value, logistics delivered with care, and the human side of sport that teams remember long after the final whistle.
Launching two first editions in the same year, while expanding participation across tournaments, tours and corporate events, set a strong foundation for what comes next.
Looking ahead to 2026
2026 is already shaping up to be another standout year. We are seeing strong momentum across our tournaments with many teams already registered, alongside a growing pipeline of tour requests and corporate projects.
We are also preparing for new milestones, including a corporate event that will be organised outside Portugal, in Morocco, and the 2nd co-organisation of a veterans basketball championship in the Algarve.
If 2025 proved what is possible, 2026 is set to raise the bar again.