How Saudi eLeague helps develop esports in Saudi Arabia

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In recent years, Saudi Arabia has been rapidly developing its esports industry, hosting major international tournaments like Gamers8 and Riyadh Masters, which offer millions of dollars in prize pools. At the same time, the domestic scene is also growing in the country. Since 2020, the Saudi Esports Federation regularly holds a series of Saudi eLeague tournaments for local teams, and current season is close to its end.

The Saudi eLeague 2023 season started on March 5 and ends on July 5. Six tournaments in disciplines such as PUBG Mobile, Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, League of Legends, Overwatch and Valorant are running one after the other during this period. The prize pools of these tournaments reach $100k thanks to the support of companies like Savvy Gaming Group, Mastercard, and STC. It should be noted that the Saudi eLeague tournaments are held in LAN format at the Saudi Esports Arena. If we consider only home tournaments for the domestic scene, not every country can boast of such a comfortable ecosystem, which Saudi Arabia has created thanks to the Saudi eLeague.

Winners of the Saudi eLeague League of Legends tournament / photo: saudieleagues.sa

The Saudi eLeague tournaments are mainly played by teams from Saudi Arabia. The most popular of them are Twisted Minds, R8 Esports, Triple Esports and, of course, Team Falcons. The latter is well known outside Saudi Arabia as well, as it regularly plays in the Rocket League Championship Series and even took second place there (during the RLCS 2021-22 — Spring Split Major). Another player on Team Falcons is Msdossary, a popular FIFA player who has participated in and won world championships many times. French CS:GO fans are also familiar with the tag, as Team Falcons is represented by legendary French captain NBK (and kennyS, who recently finished his career, is now a streamer for the club).

Team Falcons lineup after winning the Saudi eLeague (Rainbow Six) / photo: saudieleagues.sa 

As mentioned above, the Saudi eLeague series primarily targets teams from Saudi Arabia, but many teams have players from Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon and even some European countries. Relatively low competition and good prize pools are attracting more and more legionnaires to the region. These are not only players but also coaches and analysts. There is an important exchange of experience, which makes local teams more and more competitive on the international stage. 

The most popular Saudi eLeague 2023 Season 1 championship so far is the PUBG Mobile tournament, which was won by Twisted Minds. It earned $32K for first place and a quota for the PUBG Mobile World Invitational 2023. The tournament accumulated more than 80.6K Hours Watched and drew 6.5K Peak Viewers. 

Saudi eLeague 2023 Season 1 tournaments comparision

Recently, the Saudi eLeague 2023 Overwatch tournament concluded in Saudi Arabia, which was the second-to-last championship of the season. From June 15th to July 5th, the final tournament of the Saudi eLeague 2023 Season 1 series for Valorant takes place.

The number of viewers at Saudi eLeague tournaments is gradually increasing, however, these events still cannot compete with top championships in terms of audience reach and global popularity of lineups. Nevertheless, a list of disciplines that are more popular in the Saudi eLeague than other titles is gradually emerging. Fan favorites include PUBG Mobile, Overwatch, and Rocket League. At the same time, leagues for Dota 2, CS:GO, and Rainbow Six Siege gather significantly fewer viewers as local fans prefer to watch larger tournaments in the Gamers8 series, featuring top world-class clubs.

This summer, another major Gamers8 festival dedicated to esports and other interactive entertainment will take place in Riyadh. Several tournaments will be played as part of this festival, with a total prize pool of $45 million. The list of disciplines includes CS:GO, PUBG Mobile, Dota 2, Fortnite, Rocket League, Tekken, and other titles. One of the largest Gamers8 events will be the Dota 2 tournament, where $15 million will be awarded.