eSports World Championship draws unprecedented crowd, sells out in first half of inaugural event
RIYADH: The eSports World Cup, the world's largest eSports competition and festival, has entered the second half of its run after attracting an unprecedented number of spectators and live participants for its inaugural event at Boulevard Riyadh City.
The Esports World Cup Foundation, the non-profit organization that hosts the EWC, announced a total of 177.5 million hours watched in the first four weeks, with a number of individual tournaments reaching peak viewership. In addition, a total of $16.5 million of the record $60 million prize pool was distributed among nine of the 22 championships. The day-long festival event attracted more than a million visitors during the first half of the landmark event, which took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“After four fast-paced weeks, the eSports World Cup has already exceeded our wildest expectations,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation. “When we started this journey, our goal was to revolutionize the eSports industry with a historic global event that would bring together the best games, players and clubs, and reach fans beyond the core eSports enthusiasts, while reaching out to 3.4 billion gamers around the world. I am proud that we are on track to achieve this goal here in Riyadh, with hundreds of millions of viewers at home and over a million visitors, which not only exceeded our expectations, but also broke many eSports records for 2024. To date, EWC has awarded more than $16 million in life-changing prize money, with millions more to come, including the top prize of a $20 million share of the eSports World Club Championship at the end of August.”
Spectators and social moments
In the first four weeks of the eSports World Championship, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang recorded the highest audience of nearly 2.4 million concurrent viewers, the largest of any MLBB tournament in 2024. The game's popularity spread to the MLBB Women's Invitational at EWC, recording 2.5 million hours of viewing in 34 hours of total airtime. With 265,117 viewers, it was the fourth most watched event in women's eSports history. Mobile games in general exceeded audience expectations at EWC, with Free Fire attracting more than 441,000 concurrent games.
On PC, two popular multiplayer online battle arena games set high watermarks for viewing at 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 viewers ( including China).
EWC has gotten a lot of attention from fans on social media. Its accounts have collectively recorded more than one billion impressions, 270 million social video views and 58 million social interactions, demonstrating the resonance of the event among the global eSports community and beyond.
Attendance Highlights
During the first half of EWC, more than a million visitors attended the massive on-site experience at Boulevard City in Riyadh. The festival grounds alone attracted 289,000 visitors, while more than 60,000 tickets were sold for eSports events. The eSports event is less than 3,000 tickets short of a full sell-out, with four weeks and 13 events to go. The EWC Day Pass for the entire tournament is sold out and the POWR Villa and Falcons HQ are fully booked until August 17th.
During the third week, the EWC hosted international football superstars Neymar and Diego Hota. As avid eSports fans, both athletes felt the intense atmosphere surrounding the Counter-Strike 2 event.
“Being here at the first eSports World Championship is a really amazing experience,” said Giotto. “The organization and scale of this event is really 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 growing fast. This level of investment and infrastructure is exactly what eSports needs to grow and reach a wider audience. I'm excited to see EWC continue to grow and push the boundaries of competitive gaming.”
Highlights of the competition
The EWC has already awarded $16.5 million in prize money across nine tournaments 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.
Team Falcons currently sits atop the eSports Club World Championship leaderboard with 3,500 points, 2,330 points ahead of second-placed Team Liquid. The Club Championship, an innovative cross-game competition format unique to the EWC with an allocated prize pool of $20 million, rewards the top 16 clubs based on their overall performance. At the conclusion of the event, the club with the best performance in the 22 gaming championships will be crowned as the first eSports World Club Champion.
The first four weeks have delivered a series of upsets and dominant performances. In the record-breaking $500,000 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women's Invitational, Smart Omega Empress defeated tournament favorite Team Vitality to claim the $180,000 top prize. In the Overwatch 2 tournament, Crazy Raccoon cruised through the grid, winning 15 of 17 cards played to take home the trophy and $400,000. And in League of Legends, global superstar Faker led the T1 World Champion to a 3-1 victory over Top Esports, adding another international honor to his storied career.
Weekend closing
The biggest weekend in eSports history will take place on August 24-25 as the first EWC comes to a close.
On August 24, the 2024 Esports Awards, the most prestigious night in eSports, will celebrate the best in the business from all over the world, celebrating clubs, athletes, content creators, games and more. Highlights of the evening will include a Lifetime Achievement Mixer, a red carpet event, an eSports Village and the All-Star Awards ceremony itself, which last year attracted more than 22 million viewers.
The second two-day New Global Sport conference kicks off on August 24th as it brings 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, intellectual property rights and media, marketing and community building. Speakers to date include: Prince Faisal bin Bandar, Ralph Reichert, Magnus Carlsen, Tashimoto Mitoma, Greg Norman, Maya Rogers, RJ Cutler, Dr. Songyi Yoon, Sir Leonard Blavatnik, and Joe Marsh.
The weekend will conclude on August 25th, when the first eSports World Championship Club Champion will be crowned and receive their share of the Club Championship's $20 million prize pool. The EWC closing ceremony will then welcome clubs, players and fans to come together for a spectacular celebration with fireworks, light shows and live music.
