Saudi Arabia’s inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) has exceeded expectations and has delivered “real money” and visibility for the competitive gaming industry, according to the event’s chief executive Ralf Reichert.
The first edition of the EWC took place in Riyadh from 3rd July to 25th August, featuring 21 game titles, more than 500 teams and 1,500 players. It also offered the largest prize pool in esports history, with over US$60 million up for grabs.
The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF), the non-profit organisation which runs the EWC, has said the event drew more than 500 million viewers who consumed over 250 million hours of content, making it the most-watched esports tournament in 2024 so far. The highest peak concurrent viewership of 3.5 million was recorded for the League of Legends final.
Speaking to SportsPro, EWCF chief executive Reichert (pictured above) said the EWC went “way beyond all of our projections”. He also credited heavy promotion from the Saudi state for helping to drum up interest amongst those living in and visiting the kingdom.
“That starts with [the] airport is branded,” said Reichert. “You get an EWC-branded ticket, you have this EWC visa. You see EWC advertisement all over the city. Your mobile phone network is called Esports World Cup mobile phone network. The first play day of the Saudi Pro League [was] branded [by the] Esports World Cup. Every single local Saudi TV station had some sort of live coverage around this.”
Reichert added that global media coverage was “much higher” than anticipated and said Riyadh has had “30 per cent more tourists” in 2024 compared to last year which “mostly can be attributed” to the EWC.
By SportsProMedia
