Olivia Richman is a seasoned esports journalist who has worked with Inven Global, Esports Illustrated, Esports.gg, and more. As an editor and writer at Esports Insider, she loves telling unique esports stories, especially within the FGC. When not working and gaming, Olivia loves collecting Kirby plush, eating sushi, and driving her cars at the track.
Image credit: Esports World Cup The Esports World Cup is back, and this time it has a brand-new look. Due to geopolitical tension, the entire multi-week tournament was uprooted from Saudi Arabia at the last minute and shipped thousands of miles away to Paris, France.
According to the tournament organizers, this chaotic city swap has been a massive triumph. At the opening press conference, the CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation proudly announced that they have already sold over 100,000 tickets.
At the opening ceremony, Ralf Reichert proclaimed: “More than 100,000 tickets have been sold in the last few weeks – a record pace for an event like this. The competition remains unchanged. What changes is the city.
“Riyadh built it. Paris takes it to the world.”
Various publications immediately ran with the headline, suggesting this might be the most sizable esports showcase in human history. Another dramatic declaration that sounds amazing on paper, but if you look at the event’s history, it is worth taking these massive numbers with a very healthy grain of salt.
Claiming to have sold 100,000 tickets in just a few weeks is a bold strategy. For context, the event spans seven weeks, features 24 games, and boasts a prize pool approaching $100 million. But just because the CEO says a number does not mean 100,000 organic, hype-driven fans are actually filling the stadium seats right now.
The Paris Expo Porte de Versailles has a ton of space for conferences and whatever, with a capacity of over 100,000 people, but its largest theater seats 5,200 people. So… Did all the people who bought tickets just plan to wander around instead of watching the tournament?
More than likely, if the ticket sales are real, they are only attending the tournaments of the games they follow. But are they counting unique human beings who bought a ticket, or are they counting every single day pass across a seven-week calendar? If one person buys a pass to watch three different games over a weekend, does that count as three tickets sold?
When I went to check out the tickets for myself, you can basically buy a separate ticket for every day of the tournament, which means I could buy up to nine tickets for Week 2 of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, then still buy tickets for a bunch of matches at another title happening that same week. Would that count as 18-plus ticket purchases towards the 100,000 total?
It’s also a bit surprising that 100,000 tickets were sold to a location when its largest theater seats only 5,200 guests and its largest hall is capped at 64,000 guests, yet I can still buy tickets to the tournaments now. I was even able to buy tickets to the Grand Finals of the VALORANT tournament, which is basically about to start.
You would think that if so many fans were attending, a popular, upcoming event like the VALORANT Grand Finals would be sold out.
The Dota 2 Championship Weekend was also largely available aside from the Final Day. However, you could buy the Premium Tournament Pass for Week 2, which would let you get in anyway. Another massive title, Mobile Legends: Bang Ban…