- Tournaments featuring Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, League of
Legends, Dota 2 and more set 2024 viewership highs as $16.5 million
is awarded across nine out of 22 championships
- Football superstars Neymar and Diogo Jota make special
appearance, praise evolution and potential of esports
- Spectacular Closing Weekend set for August 24-25 alongside the
New Global Sport Conference and the Esports Awards
PRESS KIT WITH RECAP VIDEO
/ NEYMAR AND JOTA VISIT
PHOTOS
The Esports World Cup (“EWC”), the world's largest esports
competition and festival, is off to an unprecedented start as it
makes its mark on the global sporting calendar for the first
time.
The Esports World Cup Foundation (“EWCF”), the non-profit
organization dedicated to hosting the EWC, has announced a total of
177.5 million hours watched over the first four weeks, with a
number of individual tournaments setting viewership highs. In
addition, a total of $16.5 million of the event’s record-breaking
$60 million prize pool has been distributed across nine of 22 total
championships. Finally, the event’s daily festival has attracted
more than 1 million visitors during the first half of the landmark
event taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“After four quick weeks, the Esports World Cup has already
surpassed our highest expectations,” said Ralf Reichert,
CEO, Esports World Cup Foundation. “When we started this
journey, our goal was to leapfrog the esports industry with a
historic global event uniting the best games, players and Clubs,
and reach fans beyond the core esports enthusiasts, while tapping
into the 3.4 billion gamers around the world. I’m proud that we’re
well on our way to achieving that goal here in Riyadh with hundreds
of millions of viewers at home, and over a million visiting onsite,
shattering not only our expectations, but also a lot of 2024
esports records. The EWC has awarded more than $16 million in
life-changing prize money so far, with millions more to come,
including the ultimate prize – a share of $20 million across the
Esports World Cup Club Championship at the end of August.”
VIEWERSHIP & SOCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Across 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 councurrents, the largest figure 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
over 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 have exceeded viewership expectations at
the EWC, with Free Fire attracting over 441,000 peak
concurrents.
On PC, two popular multiplayer online battle arena (“MOBA”)
games set high watermarks for viewership at the EWC. With 55
million hours watched, the Dota 2 competition was the most-watched
tournament for the game this year, while the League of Legends
competition was the largest third-party tournament for the game in
the last decade, recording 53 million hours watched and 3.4 million
peak viewers (including China).
The EWC has earned high engagement and excitement from fans
across social media. Its accounts have collectively recorded more
than 1 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.
ATTENDANCE HIGHLIGHTS
During the first half of the EWC, over 1 million visitors
attended the massive on-site experience at Boulevard City in
Riyadh. The festival venues alone have attracted 289,000 visitors,
while the esports competitions have sold more than 60,000 tickets
so far. The esports events are less than 3,000 tickets away from a
total sellout with four weeks and 13 competitions still to come.
The EWC Day Pass has sold out for the entire tournament, while the
POWR Villa and Falcons HQ are fully booked through August
17.
During Week 3, the EWC hosted international football superstars
Neymar and Diogo Jota. As avid esports fans, both athletes took in
the high-energy atmosphere around the Counter-Strike 2 event.
Neymar and Jota's visit to the EWC exemplifies the increasing
intersection between traditional sports and esports.
"Being here at the inaugural Esports World Cup is a truly
amazing experience,” said Jota. “The organization and scale behind
this event are truly impressive, even more than I anticipated. I've
always believed in the potential of esports, even before starting
my own team, and EWC is proof that this 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
EWC continues to evolve and push the boundaries of competitive
gaming."
COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS
The EWC has already awarded $16.5 million in prize money across
nine tournament championships and another $450,000 in MVP awards.
More than $44 million in prize money will be awarded over the final
four weeks of competition spanning the remaining 13 championships
and the Club Championship.
Currently, Team Falcons sits atop the Esports World Cup Club
Championship leaderboard with 3500 points, 2330 above second-place
Team Liquid. The Club Championship, an innovative cross-game
competitive format unique to the EWC featuring a dedicated prize
pool of $20 million, rewards the top 16 clubs based on their
overall performance. At the event’s conclusion, the Club with the
best performance across the 22 game championships will be crowned
the world’s first Esports World Cup Club Champion.
The first four weeks have delivered a number of upsets and
dominating performances. In the record-breaking $500,000 Mobile
Legends: Bang Bang Women’s Invitational, Smart Omega Empress upset
tournament-favorite Team Vitality to earn the top prize of
$180,000. In the Overwatch 2 tournament, Crazy Raccoon rolled
through the bracket, winning 15 of 17 maps played 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 another international accolade to his storied
career.
CLOSING WEEKEND
The biggest weekend in esports history will take place August
24-25 as the inaugural EWC comes to a close.
On August 24, the 2024 Esports Awards, the most prestigious
night in esports, will honor the best in esports from every corner
of the globe, celebrating clubs, athletes, content creators, games
and more. Highlights from 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
22 million viewers.
The second edition of the two-day New Global Sport Conference
(NGSC) 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 globe will
discuss fandom’s impact on business planning, content, IP and media
rights, marketing, and community-building. The speaker lineup to
date includes: HRH 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 will conclude on August 25 as the first-ever Esports
World Cup Club Champion is crowned and awarded its share of the $20
million Club Championship prize pool. Immediately following, the
EWC Closing Ceremony will welcome Clubs, players, and fans to come
together for a spectacular celebration, featuring fireworks, a
light show, live music and much more.
For more information on the Esports World Cup and the remaining
tournament lineup, visit esportsworldcup.com, and follow all
upcoming Esports World Cup announcements on X (formerly
Twitter).
For all official event photos, click HERE.
About Esports World Cup
The Esports World Cup is a global celebration of competitive
excellence and esports fandom. The competition features a unique
cross-game structure that will pit the world’s top esports teams
and players against one another for the largest-ever prize pool.
Debuting in the summer 2024, gamers, publishers, and fans from
around the globe will come together in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to
crown the world’s first Esports World Cup Club Champion.
https://esportsworldcup.com/en
- Esports World Cup: League of Legends
- Esports World Cup Highlights
Anna Rozwandowicz
Esports World Cup
Press@worldcupfoundation.org