The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) announced internal numbers related to the 2025 Esports World Cup, which wrapped up on Aug. 23. According to internal numbers from the organization, the seven week competition operated 25 different tournaments where more than 2,500 players and staff from around the world competed for a share of the $70 million USD prize pool. Ultimately, Saudi Arabia-based Falcon Esports was crowned the overall club champion for the second year in a row.
EWC 2025 utilized eight festival venues and four arenas, which organizers claim is the equivalent of “nine football pitches.” EWCF also claims that more than three million people visited Riyadh Boulevard, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the competition, which also featured other entertainment such as musicians, product booths, and more. The newly launched Content Creator Park hosted over 30 mainstage shows, organizers claim, with “more than 50 partners delivering activations and experiences that generated 8 billion impressions and 2 billion video views across EWC channels.”
In terms of views on platforms (Twitch, YouTube, etc.), EWCF claims that broadcasts during the competition reached 750 million viewers. Finally, organizers claim that esports arenas in Riyadh “were sold out” and welcomed “hundreds of thousands of fans, including 2,000 Super Fans who travelled to Riyadh to cheer on their favorite teams.”
Finally, EWCF claims “unprecedented global media interest,” with more than 4,000 outlets publishing over 30,000 articles worldwide.
The Esports Advocate asked a representative of the EWCF for details on the economic impact of the seven week event, but they did not respond to our request, as of this writing.
It should be noted that these numbers are from organizers, so TEA can not confirm the veracity of the data. Some of this data was likely gathered and collated by EWCF partners such as Shikenso Analytics, SPORTFIVE, GRID Esports, PwC Middle East, and others.
While precise viewership numbers weren’t provided, Esports Charts has some insights on overall viewership for the events across its seven week run (though it should be noted that these numbers do not include viewership numbers from China). According to that data the overall numbers were 1.2 million peak viewers, 472,519 average viewers, 18 million hours watched, and total airtime of around 38 million hours. The most popular event occurred on July 15, when Chinese team Anyone’s Legend battled South Korea’s Gen.G during the League of Legends playoffs, recording peak viewership of 1.2 million.
The Esports World Cup was produced by the Esports World Cup Foundation with the help of Savvy Games Group division ESL FACEIT Group. The Savvy Games Group is owned by the Saudi Arabian government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Projects backed or owned by the Saudi Arabian government such as the Esports World Cup are frequently criticized for helping the government engage in “sports washing,” or using various forms of entertainment to cover up its record on human rights, women’s rights, LGTBQ+ rights, military actions in Yemen, and more. These and other criticisms have been highlighted by international watchdog groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.