stc group, a leading digital enabler, has concluded its third consecutive year as a Founding and Elite Partner of the Esports World Cup 2026 — closing out the tournament's first-ever edition outside Saudi Arabia with a grand final at the iconic Accor Arena in Paris, attended by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. This year’s edition was the largest in the tournament’s history, bringing together more than 2,000 professional players and 200 clubs from over 100 countries, competing across 25 tournaments and 24 games titles for a prize pool, valued at more than $75million.
When the Esports World Cup expanded from Riyadh to Paris in 2026, it confirmed what the industry had come to recognize: a tournament born in Saudi Arabia had grown into a global product that the world's great cities now compete to host. Tickets for Championship Sunday sold out at record pace, forcing organizers to move the grand final to the Accor Arena, Paris's largest indoor venue, to meet demand. stc group has been at the center of that growth since day one, supporting the event from the earliest editions as a Founding and Elite Partner.
In Paris, stc group held the naming rights to three venues across the EWC footprint: the stc Arena, a competitive hub hosting VALORANT, League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, Rocket League, EA FC 26, Overwatch 2, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7; the stc Player's Lounge; and stc Contenders. Together, these spaces placed stc at the heart of competition and across the broader fan-fest experience throughout the event. Beyond the professional stage, stc group organized and operated the Warriors Cup, which spanned more than 200 tournaments across 16 game titles, targeting more than 10,000 players over seven weeks of competition, giving fans and amateur players a genuine competitive pathway at the world’s biggest esports stage. Thousands of youth players participated across the tournament, reflecting stc’s commitment to developing the next generation of talent from the grassroots up.
The stc tv EWC channel launched on 5 July delivered 10 to 12 hours of daily coverage including live tournament action, highlights, analysis, and exclusive content throughout the tournament. The channel generated over 3 million plays between launch and 23 August, with set-top boxes accounting for the majority of plays, reflecting the channel's reach into living rooms across the region.
Riyadh hosted the inaugural edition in 2024, with stc group supporting the tournament as a Founding and Elite Partner, reaching over 500 million viewers with a peak viewership of 3.5 million, becoming the most watched global esports event of the year. stc group provided connectivity across competition venues, supporting more than 10,000 players and achieving network availability of 99.9%, while establishing a presence across key tournament spaces including the stc Arena, stc play Gaming Hall, and stc tv World Cup Studios.
The 2025 edition raised the bar further, bringing together over 2,000 professional players, 7 million on-site visitors, and a historic $70 million prize pool. stc expanded its network coverage by more than 20% compared with the inaugural edition, delivering 14 dedicated internet circuits with a total capacity of 34 Gbps, supported by 30 mobile sites and connectivity speeds consistently exceeding 2 Gbps.
stc group has been recognized by the Communications, Space and Technology Commission with the Platinum Gaming Operator Award for ten consecutive award cycles, a reflection of sustained, serious investment in gaming across Saudi Arabia. Three years as a Founding and Elite Partner of the Esports World Cup, from the inaugural edition in Riyadh to the final in Paris, is the clearest expression of what that means: a long-term commitment to the sport of the next generation, now followed by the world.
Source: stc Press Release
