The Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF) has made efforts to expand its global reach in 2025, with both China and India as key markets to target. China, specifically, is an area that the EWC is looking to capitalise on, according to the EWCF’s Chief Commercial Officer Mohammad Al Nimer, who The Esports Radar spoke with exclusively during the opening week of the summer event.

“China in 2024 represented 55% of the viewership of the Esports World Cup, so it’s really massive, and it’s probably the most mature esports market globally, and the biggest,” said the executive.

Al Nimer also explained how the team had overhauled its approach to the Chinese market, relying on local expertise and infrastructure to connect with fans: “We first partnered with the right people because we recognised that, in order to market to people in China, you need people who understand the culture, the language,” he said. “We have a strategic partnership with Tencent supporting us in the Chinese market. We also work with Hero Esports, probably the biggest esports tournament organiser over there.”

A fully localised strategy has followed, including social media channels, media deals for local broadcasts, and ambassador campaigns designed to resonate with younger audiences.

“We just announced our first ever Chinese ambassador, Karry Wang, who is a very famous music artist in China, specifically appealing to the young Chinese audience,” Al Nimer said. “It made a massive buzz and was one of the big trending topics on Weibo [Chinese social media].”

Even global announcements, such as the unveiling of Cristiano Ronaldo as EWC’s global ambassador, saw traction in China due to their inclusion of local talent. “The announcement of Ronaldo was one of the things that made the buzz because on the key visual we had the Chinese player in there and fans were really super hyped about it,” he explained. Al Nimer developed on the Ronaldo strategy in another feature also published by The Esports Radar.

Al Nimer described a dual-layered strategy to how they want to approach the market: “Number one, our global content, we localize it and adapt it to the Chinese market. Number two, we do specific activities for the Chinese market.”

That includes original storytelling around qualifying clubs and behind-the-scenes content. “Typically, for the clubs qualifying from China to EWC, we have their full story: road to EWC, content about how they’re training, preparing, qualifying and so on,” he said. “When they come to Riyadh, we also have social media teams following them and telling their stories.”

The results are beginning to extend beyond digital engagement. “7% of the ticket buyers right now for EWC are Chinese,” Al Nimer confirmed. “So we have more and more Chinese people buying tickets traveling all the way to Riyadh to come and watch their favorite teams compete at the Esports World Cup, and ultimately for us this is really important.”

Despite the rapid growth, the Foundation views this as a long-term play. “We improve year on year. There’s still room for improvement, and we’ll continue to do so, but if you look at what we did this year versus last year, I think the improvement has been massive,” he said.