ESL FACEIT Group announced this week that it has entered into a multi-year partnership with the Esports World Cup Foundation to serve as the official operating partner of the Esports World Cup in the years ahead.
Financial terms and the specific duration of the deal were not disclosed.
The Esports World Cup Foundation describes itself as a non-profit funded by a grant from the Saudi Arabian government (similar to what the government might give a sports federation such as FIFA to operated a major event in the country), while ESL FACEIT Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Savvy Games Group, which is owned by the government-run sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund.
The Esports World Cup, a multi-week, multi-title esports competition and gaming festival, is currently running in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and concludes on Aug. 25. From what we understand, ESL FACEIT Group bid for the rights to facilitate competitions at the Esports World Cup—though who they could have bid against to win that contract beyond BLAST, Compass (a firm out of Dubai operating events in the United Arab Emirates), and some lesser known tournament organizers in MENA, remains a mystery.
“Esports World Cup is one of the most ambitious new global sports events to ever take place,” said Craig Levine, Co-CEO of EFG. “It’s a historic step forward for esports’ global growth, and the results so far are a testament to the collaboration of both teams, our deep-rooted relationships with industry stakeholders, and our unrivaled understanding of how gamers celebrate esports. As we approach the end of this life-changing tournament, we’re already looking forward to continuing to shape the future of sports fandom and entertainment powered by esports and gaming – not just through the end of August, but for years to come.”
Under the terms of the newly announced partnership for 2025 and beyond, EFG will be “responsible for the delivery of tournament operations and broadcast programming.” The company also said in a release that it “also worked in close collaboration with the Esports World Cup to support its product proposition and global marketing strategy.”
Indeed, ESL FACEIT Group utilized its various properties including its existing esports circuits, its platforms (FACEIT), and events (DreamHack), to host qualifiers in North and South America, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and more, to determine the players/teams that would qualify to compete at the Esports World Cup this year.