30 Teams Selected for the Esports World Cup Club Support Program

30 teams selected for the Esports World Cup Foundation Club Support Program

The Esports World Cup Foundation announced Monday the 30 esports clubs that have been accepted into the Esports World Cup Club Support Program. The full lineup of clubs includes 100 Thieves, Blacklist International, Cloud9, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, Furia Esports, G2 Esports, Gaimin Gladiators, Gen.G Esports, Guild Esports, Karmine Corp, KOI, LGD Gaming, LOUD, OG, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, NRG Esports, Spacestation Gaming, T1, Talon Esports, Team Falcons, Team Liquid, Team Secret, Team Vitality, TSM, Tundra Esports, Twisted Minds, Virtus.pro, and Weibo Gaming. 

The Esports World Club Support Program is “designed to promote the creation of sustainable infrastructure for multidisciplinary esports clubs,” according to a release. As TEA detailed earlier this year in this report, the Esports World Cup Club Support Program provides esports organizations the opportunity to receive six-figure funding to enter into new esports titles. From the release:

• Re-enter esports titles in which they previously established long histories of involvement, and enter new gaming genres with strong grassroots resonance. 
• Expand into new international markets by signing athletes and rosters outside their home region, fueling stronger global esports infrastructure.
• Create novel content verticals to engage fans with compelling athlete narratives, along with hiring the staff needed to support those efforts.

The Esports World Cup Foundation also said in its announcement that it has expanded the number of available slots from 28 to 30. Eight of these clubs were selected through an open application period that began in February—more than 150 applications were received, according to the organization. Applications were judged on three core criteria: 

• A club’s esports pedigree.
• Its forward-looking competitive strategy and goals. 
• Its creative approach to content and fan engagement. 

“The Club Support Program is critical to the EWC Foundation’s vision of building a stronger esports ecosystem and elevating esports as global sports,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO, Esports World Cup Foundation. “Because we received so many high quality applications, we expanded our original allocation of 28 Club Support Program slots to 30, a testament to the strength of our program as it supports some of the world’s best esports Clubs. I’m excited to cheer on these Clubs as they work to qualify for the Esports World Cup and its life-changing prize pool of more than $60 million.”

As was noted in our previous reporting, a club’s acceptance into the EWC Club Support Program does not guarantee that it will be participating in the Esports World Cup but “all members of the EWC Club Support Program will be eligible for annual financial rewards based on their ability to drive viewership and fan engagement to the EWC.” 

The Esports World Cup is backed by a government sports grant (similar to what would be provided for a major sporting event such as a World Cup or a major Olympic game) from the Saudi Arabian government, with that money coming from the sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Esports World Cup competitions are being facilitated by ESL FACEIT Group, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Savvy Games Group. Savvy is owned by the Saudi government. EFG is home to tournament organizer ESL, competition platform FACEIT, and esports and gaming festival company DreamHack.