Esports World Cup set for ‘Super Sunday’ of finals

The Esports World Cup draws unprecedented audiences, sellout crowds in the first half of the inaugural event

RIYADH: The Esports World Cup, the world's largest esports tournament and festival, has entered the second half of the tournament, drawing unprecedented audiences and live attendances for its inaugural event in the city of Boulevard Riyadh.

The Esports World Cup Foundation, the nonprofit organization that hosts the EWC, announced a total of 177.5 million hours watched in the first four weeks, with many individual tournaments driving viewership numbers higher. In addition, a total of $16.5 million has been distributed across nine of the 22 championships in the event's record-breaking $60 million prize pool. The event's daily festival drew more than one million viewers to the first leg of the historic event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Four weeks later, the Esports World Cup has exceeded our highest expectations,” said Ralph Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation. “When we embarked on this journey, our goal was to leapfrog the esports industry with a historic global event uniting the best games, players and clubs and reaching fans beyond core esports enthusiasts, tapping into the 3.4 billion gamers worldwide. I am proud that we are here in Riyadh to millions of Viewers at home, and on track to achieve over one million onsite visits, shattering not only our expectations but also many esports records for 2024. EWC has awarded over $16 million in life-changing prize money to date, the ultimate prize Including – a $20 million stake in the upcoming Esports World Cup Club Championship at the end of August.


Audience and social highlights

In the first four weeks of the Esports World Cup, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang registered the event's highest peak viewership with nearly 2.4 million concurrents, the largest number for any MLBB tournament in 2024. The game's popularity extended to the MLBB Women's Invitational at EWC, recording 2.5 million hours watched in its 34-hour total broadcast. With 265,117 peak viewers, it became the fourth most-watched event in women's esports history. Mobile games in general exceeded audience expectations at EWC, with Free Fire attracting over 441,000 peak concurrents.

On PC, two popular multiplayer online battlefield games set high watermarks for viewers at EWC. With 55 million hours watched, the Dota 2 tournament was the most-watched tournament for the game this year, while the League of Legends tournament was the biggest third-party tournament for the game in the last decade, with 53 million hours watched and a recorded 3.4. million peak viewers (including China).

EWC has attracted high engagement from fans on social media. Its accounts have collectively recorded more than one billion impressions, 270 million social video views and 58 million total social engagements, a testament to the event's resonance among the global esports community and beyond.


Appearance highlights

In the first half of the EWC, more than one million visitors participated in a massive on-site experience in the Boulevard City of Riyadh. Festival venues alone have attracted 289,000 visitors, while esports tournaments have sold more than 60,000 tickets so far. Esports events are less than 3,000 tickets away from total sales with four weeks and 13 tournaments to go. EWC Day Passes are sold out for the entire tournament, while POWR Villa and Falcons HQ are fully booked until August 17.

In week 3, EWC hosted international soccer superstars Neymar and Diogo Jota. As esports fans, both players took in the high-energy atmosphere surrounding the Counter-Strike 2 event.

“It's a really amazing experience to be here at the inaugural eSports World Cup,” Jota said. “The organization and scale behind this event is truly impressive, even more than I expected. I've always believed in the potential of esports even before starting my own team, and EWC is proof that the scene is rapidly evolving. This level of investment and infrastructure means esports will continue to grow. And that's what it takes to reach a wider audience. I'm excited to see how EWC continues to push the boundaries of competitive gaming.”

Competition highlights

The EWC has already awarded $16.5 million in nine tournament championships and $450,000 in MVP awards. More than $44 million in prize money will be awarded over the final four weeks of the tournament, spread across the remaining 13 championships and club championships.

Currently, Team Falcons tops the Esports World Cup Club Championship leaderboard with 3,500 points, 2,330 above second-placed Team Liquid. The Club Championship, an innovative cross-sport competitive format unique to the EWC featuring a dedicated prize pool of $20 million, awards the top 16 clubs based on their overall performance. At the conclusion of the event, the best performing club in the 22 sports championships will be crowned the world's first Esports World Cup Club Champions.

The first four weeks have provided several upsets and dominant performances. At the record-breaking $500,000 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women's Invitational, Smart Omega Empress upset tournament-favorite Team Vitality to earn the $180,000 top prize. In the Overwatch 2 tournament, Crazy Raccoon won 15 of 17 maps to take home the trophy and $400,000. And in League of Legends, global superstar Faker led defending world champions T1 to a 3-1 victory over Top Esports, adding yet another international accolade to his storied career.

Closed on weekends

The biggest weekend in esports history will take place on August 24-25 when the inaugural EWC concludes.

On August 24, the 2024 Esports Awards, the most prestigious night in esports, will honor the best in the business celebrating clubs, players, content creators, games and more from every part of the world. Highlights of the evening will include the Lifetime Achievement Mixer, Red Carpet Event, Esports Village and the star-studded awards ceremony itself, which last year attracted over 2.2 million viewers.

The second two-day new global sports conference will kick off on August 24 as it unites leaders from esports, gaming, business, sports and entertainment to explore “the future of fandom”. Thought leaders from around the world will discuss the impact of fandom on business planning, content, IP and media rights, marketing, and community-building. Today's speaker lineup includes: Prince Faisal Bin Bandar, Ralph Reichert, Magnus Carlsen, Toshimoto Mitomo, Greg Norman, Maya Rogers, RJ Cutler, Dr. Songyi Yun, Sir Leonard Blavatnik and Joe Marsh.

The weekend will conclude on August 25 when the first Esports World Cup club champions will be crowned and awarded their share of the $20 million Club Championship prize pool. The EWC closing ceremony welcomes clubs, players and fans to come together for a spectacular celebration, featuring fireworks, light shows and live music.

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