Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, attended on Sunday the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup 2025 in Riyadh, during which he crowned “Team Falcons” as champion.
Team Falcons topped the tournament standings with 5,200 points, securing the grand prize of $7 million out of a total prize pool exceeding $70 million - the largest in the history of global esports. The prizes were distributed among teams, players, and participants according to their tournament rankings.
The Crown Prince’s presence at the event reflects his continued and substantial support for the gaming and esports sector through a comprehensive framework of regulations and initiatives driven by the National Gaming and Esports Strategy, which he launched in 2022.
The strategy aims to build a globally competitive and sustainable sector and achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. It serves as a key pillar for creating 39,000 jobs, contributing up to SAR50 billion to GDP by 2030, supporting the establishment of startups, and attracting global investment in gaming and esports.
CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation Ralf Reichert praised the Crown Prince’s support for the tournament, stressing that the Kingdom succeeded in creating a unique global experience that combined diverse games, strong competitions, attractive entertainment activities, global attendance, and vast online viewership.
The seven-week tournament witnessed broad participation from clubs and players from countries across the globe, alongside unprecedented audience and media attendance. A total of 2,000 professional players competed in 200 clubs from 100 countries across 25 tournaments featuring the world’s most popular esports titles.
The tournament gained a distinctly global character and set records in multiple areas, including the number of tournaments, prize value, and audience engagement.
The Esports World Cup originated from a Saudi initiative announced by Crown Prince Mohammed in 2023, with Riyadh hosting its first edition in 2024 to great international success. This paved the way for the 2025 edition, which was organized at an unprecedented technical and organizational level.
By hosting this exceptional tournament, the Kingdom has strengthened its advanced global position in gaming and esports, delivering a unique experience that combined competition with innovation and boosted performance indicators. The tournament recorded a 53% rise in ticket sales, a 40% increase in average content demand, and a 64% growth in international sales.
Moreover, competitions were broadcast in 35 languages to over 100 countries, in a global media production that reflected the scale of organization and level of participation.
Over the course of the tournament, the Boulevard Riyadh City welcomed more than 3 million visitors. At the same time, over 750 million viewers worldwide followed the competitions through digital platforms, with a total watch time exceeding 350 million hours. The accompanying events featured more than 1,500 community, cultural, and entertainment activities.
With the conclusion of the Esports World Cup 2025, Riyadh continues to cement its position as a global capital of esports, adding another achievement to the Kingdom’s record of international successes. This further supports the development goals of the sports and entertainment sectors and drives digital transformation to broader horizons.
