eSports World Cup, First Half of First Event Recorded Unprecedented Viewership and Sold Out Attendance
RIYADH: The eSports World Cup, the world’s largest eSports tournament and festival, has entered its second half with unprecedented viewership and live attendance at its inaugural event held at Boulevard Riyadh City.
The Esports World Cup Foundation, the non-profit organization that hosts the EWC, announced that a total of 177.5 million hours of viewership were watched over the first four weeks, with several individual tournaments recording viewership records. Additionally, $16.5 million of the event’s record-breaking $60 million prize pool was distributed across nine of the 22 championships. The event’s one-day festivities attracted more than one million visitors during the first half of the landmark event held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“In just four weeks, the eSports World Cup has already surpassed our highest expectations,” said Ralph Reichert, CEO of the eSports World Cup Foundation. “When we set out on this journey, our goal was to reach 3.4 billion gamers around the world, transcending the eSports industry and reaching fans beyond the core eSports enthusiasts with a historic global event that unites the best games, players and clubs. I’m proud that we’re on track to achieve that goal, with hundreds of millions watching from home in Riyadh and over a million people in attendance, breaking not only our expectations but also eSports records for 2024. The EWC has awarded more than $16 million in life-changing prize money to date, with millions more to be awarded, including a top prize pool of $20 million to be shared at the eSports World Cup Club Championship in late August.”
Viewership and Social Highlights
During the first four weeks of the eSports World Cup, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang had the highest peak viewership of the event, with nearly 2.4 million concurrent viewers, the most of any MLBB tournament in 2024. The game’s popularity extended to the MLBB Women’s Invitational at EWC, which saw 2.5 million hours of viewership over the 34-hour broadcast. With a peak viewership of 265,117, it became the fourth-most-watched event in women’s eSports history. Mobile games generally exceeded viewership expectations at EWC, with Free Fire attracting a peak concurrent viewership of over 441,000.
Two popular multiplayer online battle arena games on PC set viewership records at EWC. The Dota 2 tournament was the most-watched gaming tournament of the year with 55 million hours watched, while the League of Legends tournament was the biggest third-party tournament of the decade with 53 million hours watched and 3.4 million peak viewers (including China).
EWC has generated a huge amount of fan engagement across social media, with accounts generating over 1 billion impressions, 270 million social video views, and 58 million total social engagements, a testament to the event’s resonance within the global esports community and beyond.
Attendance Highlights
Over the first half of the EWC, over 1 million visitors attended the massive live experience at Boulevard City in Riyadh. The festival venue alone attracted 289,000 visitors, and the esports competitions have sold over 60,000 tickets to date. With 13 competitions remaining over the next four weeks, the esports event is less than 3,000 tickets away from selling out. EWC day passes are sold out for the entire tournament, with POWR Villa and Falcons HQ fully booked through August 17.
In week 3, EWC welcomed international soccer superstars Neymar and Diogo Jota. The two players, both avid esports fans, enjoyed the high-energy atmosphere surrounding the Counter-Strike 2 event.
“It’s been an incredible experience to attend the first eSports World Cup,” said Jota. “The organization and scale of the event is truly impressive, and it’s even more impressive than I expected. I believed in the potential of eSports before I even started my team, and the EWC is proof that the scene is evolving rapidly. This level of investment and infrastructure is exactly what eSports needs to grow and reach a wider audience. I’m excited to see how the EWC continues to evolve and push the boundaries of competitive gaming.”
Competition Highlights
The EWC has already awarded $16.5 million in prize money and a $450,000 MVP award across nine tournament championships. Over $44 million will be awarded over the remaining 13 championships and the final four weeks of competition across the club championships.
Team Falcons currently sit atop the Esports World Cup Club Championship leaderboard with 3,500 points, 2,330 points ahead of second-place Team Liquid. Featuring a dedicated prize pool of $20 million, the Club Championship, an innovative cross-game competition format unique to the EWC, rewards the top 16 clubs based on overall performance. At the end of the event, the club with the best performance across all 22 game championships will be crowned the world’s first Esports World Cup Club Champion.
The first four weeks have seen several upsets and crushing successes. In the record-breaking $500,000 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women's Invitational, Smart Omega Empress defeated tournament favorites Team Vitality to claim the $180,000 top prize. In the Overwatch 2 tournament, Crazy Raccoon made it through the bracket, winning 15 of 17 maps to take home the trophy and $400,000. And in League of Legends, global superstar Faker led defending champions T1 to a 3-1 win over Top Esports, adding another international trophy to his legendary career.
Weekend Closing
The biggest weekend in esports history is set to take place August 24-25, as the inaugural EWC concludes.
On August 24, the most prestigious night in esports, the 2024 Esports Awards, will honor the industry’s best players from around the world and celebrate clubs, athletes, content creators, games, and more. Highlights of the evening include a Lifetime Achievement Mixer, red carpet event, esports village, and a star-studded awards ceremony that attracted over 22 million viewers last year.
The second two-day New Global Sport Conference kicks off on August 24th, bringing together 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. Presenters so far include Prince Faisal bin Bandar, Ralf Reichert, Magnus Carlsen, Toshimoto Mitomo, Greg Norman, Maya Rogers, RJ Cutler, Dr. Songyee Yoon, Sir Leonard Blavatnik and Joe Marsh.
The weekend concludes on August 25th, when the first Esports World Cup Club Champion will be crowned and take home a piece of the $20 million Club Championship prize pool. The EWC Closing Ceremony invites clubs, players and fans to join in the spectacular celebration featuring fireworks, light shows and live music.
