From sponsorships to industry-wide announcements, Insider Sport has you covered when it comes to the world of esports.
This week’s edition highlights the latest developments in the esports sector. This week, the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) has announced a total prize pool of more than $60m for the inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) this summer in Saudi Arabia.
EWCF unveils record-breaking $60m prize pool for Esports World Cup
EWCF has announced a total prize pool of more than $60m for the inaugural EWC this summer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
EWCF has set a new record with its prize pool, now the largest in history, surpassing the previous $45m record set by Gamers8: The Land of Heroes in 2023. The organisation aims to use this money to support industry growth and provide more sustainable career options for athletes and esports clubs.
The tournament will feature the world’s top clubs and esports athletes across 20 competitions, with more to be announced throughout its eight-week schedule. The impressive prize pool will be distributed into four main channels.
The first channel is the Club Championship, a new format that focuses on multi-game competitions, with each club selecting the games they want to compete in. The EWC will award a total of $20m to the top 16 clubs based on their overall performance.
The remainder of the prize pool will be divided into three additional categories, Game Championships, MVP Awards and Qualifiers.
Ralf Reichert, CEO, Esports World Cup Foundation, commented: “Setting the record for largest esports prize pool is a remarkable achievement, but what I’m most proud of is the positive message this sends to the wider esports and gaming community.
“More than $60m is a testament to our investment in the future of global esports, a commitment to esports fans who deserve exceptional events and an extension of our mission to create meaningful competitive opportunities with life-changing prize pools for esports athletes everywhere.”
LCK Spring 2024 smashes previous viewership record
The LCK (League of Legends Champions Korea) has shattered its all-time viewership record following Gen.G‘s victory in the LCK Spring 2024 split.
According to Esports Charts, the tournament experienced a significant surge in viewership compared to previous editions, with a peak viewership of 2.6 million and a total of 98 million hours watched.
In comparison to the second most popular LCK event, LCK Summer 2023, this year’s tournament boasted over a million more peak viewers (1.59 million for LCK Summer 2023) and approximately 30 million more hours watched (62.2 million).
LCK Spring 2024 also maintained an average viewership of around 355,000 viewers throughout its 276-hour airtime. These figures not only establish LCK Spring as the most-watched League of Legends event of 2024, but also as the sixth-most watched event in the game’s extensive history.
The impressive viewership can be attributed to the popularity of Korean organisations T1 and Gen.G, both of which reached the finals. Additionally, the event was co-streamed by numerous regional and global creators, expanding the total viewer base.
Riot Games announces promotion to attract more partnerships
Game developer Riot Games has promoted David Mulhall to the position of Global Head of Esports Partnerships and Business Development
Within his new role, Mulhall will spearhead a worldwide team focused on broadening Riot Games’ partnership network. Additionally, he will be tasked with ensuring exceptional value for existing ones across Riot Games’ global and regional events for League of Legends, VALORANT, and Teamfight Tactics.
Since joining Riot Games in 2020, Mulhall has played a pivotal role in crafting the partnership strategy for the inaugural season of the VALORANT Champions Tour. Under his leadership, Riot Games successfully renewed, extended and expanded its agreements with prominent partners such as Red Bull, Mastercard and AWS.
Before joining Riot Games, Mulhall served as the Director of Corporate Partnerships for NBA franchise the Sacramento Kings, where he oversaw partnerships for both the Kings and their esports branch, Kings Guard.
With a diverse background in sports and esports, Mulhall also held sponsorship roles in Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) and the Supercars Championship motorsport series.
John Needham, President of Esports at Riot Games, commented: “David has been forging longstanding partnerships with premier brands that have supported our efforts to deliver groundbreaking esports events to fans worldwide.
“We’re more focused than ever on creating opportunities for partners that deliver great value and improve the player experience watching esports. David’s deep understanding and passion for our various esports communities is critical to successfully integrating partners into our broadcasts and events.”
Team Liquid partners with Loadout to gain ‘global advantage’
Esports organisation Team Liquid has forged a partnership with Loadout, an esports and gaming data analytics company.
Under the agreement, Loadout will supply Team Liquid with valuable data on gaming and esports audiences to bolster its sales, partnerships and marketing efforts.
Established in 2015 under the name Insightful Consulting, Loadout is an esports and gaming data company based in Paris, France. The company collaborates with the consumer data platform GWI to provide services that allow for data contextualization with broader commercial, demographic and attitudinal data.
Loadout boasts over 30,000 research variables in its dataset, providing insights into various aspects such as the purchase behaviours of different digital items and reasons for supporting esports organisations.
With the firm’s data analysis spanning more than 15 markets, Loadout’s partnership with Team Liquid has the potential to enhance the organisation’s global impact.
Jason Lucas Luijckx, Director of Partnerships EMEA, Team Liquid, commented on the partnership with Loadout: “As a global esports organisation, Team Liquid reaches fans all around the world. At every stage of the partnership process – from pitch to execution – we require insights on our varied audiences that support our unique-to-market strategies.
“Our use of audience data has been instrumental in the success of our sponsorship business, and Loadout, with the support of GWI, will give us a global advantage moving forward.”
