The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) has announced the structure for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), which will offer a total prize pool of $75 million. The event is scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 6 to August 23, 2026, with organisers also indicating progress toward the event’s long-term financial objectives.
According to the foundation, the tournament will involve over 2,000 players and 200 Clubs from more than 100 countries, competing across 25 tournaments in 24 different games. A central component of the event is the cross-game Club Championship, which will distribute $30 million of the total prize pool to the top 24 Clubs. The winning Club will receive $7 million. Individual Game Championships will share over $39 million collectively, with the remainder allocated to various qualifying events and awards, such as MVP accolades.
In a statement, EWCF CEO Ralf Reichert said: “The life-changing prize pool exists to support the people at the heart of esports: the players and the Clubs that invest in them year after year. EWC is different because of the Club Championship. One title crowns a champion. EWC crowns the ultimate cross-game Club Champion.”
In a press conference covering the announcement, The Esports Radar asked EWCF’s COO & Deputy CEO Mike McCabe about the financial sustainability of the large-scale investment. “We’re on track with our targets. We don’t share those numbers, but we’re definitely on track,” he stated. He pointed to expanding sponsorship categories within esports, ticket sales exceeding expectations, and growth in broadcast and merchandise revenue as positive signs. McCabe also noted the foundation is a non-profit and is on the path it projected for 2030.
In an August 2025 interview with The Esports Radar, HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud outlined his vision and the country’s objectives for the Esports World Cup, citing its role in Saudi Arabia’s economic, cultural, and technological development.
Tickets for the event will be available for purchase from January 22, 2026, via the official website and partnered platforms. Earlier this week, the foundation has confirmed a 24-game roster for 2026, which includes new additions Fortnite and Trackmania, which closed an agreement for the racing game to be included at least for the next three editions of the EWC.
Providing context on the event’s development, EWCF Chief Games Officer Fabian Scheuermann noted in the press conference that the foundation is now providing longer-term clarity to competing organisations. “We are announcing well ahead of time now how long the games will be included, and that will be known publicly. When they build their rosters, they know, ‘hey, this is going to exist for another 2 years, another 3 years at least’, which is, for professional rosters, a quite decent amount of time,” he stated.
He added that closer collaboration with publishers aims to make the EWC a stable fixture in the annual esports calendar.
The announcement follows the 2025 event, which the foundation reported had 750 million viewers worldwide and over 3 million on-site visitors. The EWCF will continue its Club Partner Program and Road to EWC qualification system in 2026.
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