Currently taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Esports World Cup features 2,000 elite players and 200 clubs from more than 100 countries, competing in 25 tournaments across 24 games. Running until 24 August and part of the wider EWC Festival, where community esports tournaments, live music, retro arcades, anime cafés, cosplay, creator studios, and more come together, the gaming action is expected to attract millions of viewers online and in person.

To help achieve this, the Esports World Cup Federation (EWCF), which organises the event, called on global sports marketing agency IMG to enhance the broadcast coverage and expand the audience of this esports extravaganza.

A key aspect of this is EWC Spotlight, a two-hour show that is being produced live during every championship weekend from a custom-built studio in Boulevard City, Riyadh. Not only is this showcasing highlights from the gameplay but it’s also taking viewers behind the scenes with exclusive content, celebrity guests and educational features designed to appeal to a more mainstream audience. An hour-long highlights show also drops each Monday, complete with subtitled translations for specific territories including Japan and South America.

Steve Rudge, VP & co-head of multi-sport content, IMG, explains: “[The EWCF] feel like they’ve got the core gaming audience brilliantly served on platforms like YouTube and Twitch. But they wanted to create a wraparound show for mainstream audiences that merges the very best of gaming and a bit of light entertainment.”

Mike McCabe, COO, EWCF, expands: “The goal from the start was simple: to create a broadcast and content experience that could elevate esports to the level of global sport and entertainment. IMG has been instrumental in helping us bring that vision to life, particularly through EWC Spotlight, which is as much about storytelling and access as it is about competition.”

IMG took inspiration from its Champions League show for CBS, which is a mix of sport and entertainment “and drives amazing digital and social footprint”, according to Rudge. Guests on EWC Spotlight so far have included actor David Harbour, skateboarding and gaming legend Tony Hawk and Swiss footballer Alisha Lehmann.

“All of them have a massive love of gaming, but clearly are celebrities in their own field in the same way, and that crossover is quite important,” he adds.

“By complementing the live esports action with this kind of content, we’re not only growing our audience but also deepening engagement across every layer of the community,” adds McCabe.

The turnaround from winning the project to going live in Riyadh was a matter of months, so working closely with partners, including EFG which is host broadcaster for the World Cup, and NEP, which is providing technical services for the live show and for the host broadcast, has been essential. Nowhere was this more so than when designing and building the studio space for the live shows.

“We worked with a company called Creative Works to design the set concept. They have worked with big music artists to create music sets for tours. So it was a really ambitious approach to try and be more than a traditional sports studio. We really wanted to create a concept that was right in the heart of the events. The studio is in the heart of Boulevard City, which is a venue with shops, entertainment places, and they’ve got these huge screens like you’d see in Leicester Square or Times Square. So that’s an amazing thing that we were able to integrate into the production. It looks spectacular.”

As there are multiple gaming arenas, the IMG team has roaming capabilities to broadcast from across the festival site, something which has also created more content opportunities.

“We’ve plugged into the LiveU network so we can get in among those four or five main arenas and capture the fan experience. And the festival has everything from gaming stations, fan areas, and even a retro gaming experience where you’ve got old consoles from the past. And that’s been quite an important part for us, because we’ve lent into that to reflect the development of gaming and history through the years.”

In addition to the roaming cameras there are three core single presentation cameras, an extended jib, “which we’ve built a specific area for, because that’s one of the cameras that can truly give that depth and capture that whole arena shot effectively”. Two drones with AR graphics capabilities are also being utilised “to elevate the production on screen”.

“Some of the drone shots and the jib shots that we’ve been able to get are unique to the environment, because the studio is an open set, it’s not a box,” adds Rudge. “We had an amazing shot the other day where the drone was able to come down and fly through the set, over the trophy, and then into the big screens to show hero shots. We’ve really tried to embrace that environment and the set design has allowed us to take on some spectacular moments from a broadcast point of view.”

On the graphics side, IMG is partnering with AE Live. “They have worked hard with the foundation to integrate their brand and graphical guidelines. And they’ve worked to do the augmented reality graphics that you see on the drone. And again, it’s layered, so when you see the drone shots, especially, you’ve got the studio environment, you’ve got the big screens with our own bespoke content within them, because we have control of that, and then the AR graphics over the top of those with gamers and logos and the like. It comes together really well to look visually compelling on screen.”

“By complementing the live esports action with this kind of content, we’re not only growing our audience but also deepening engagement across every layer of the community”

Production is handled from Riyadh. “We had to be on site really because we had to a integrate into the visual environment of the studio. But critically, this is the first time this has ever been done from the World Cup and the foundation side of things. So the integration with the host broadcaster and the big screens was a critical piece of infrastructure we had to get. I don’t see any way that could have been done in year one without being on site.”

Considering the project as a whole, it’s the combination of the open-air studio, the integration of the big screens and the augmented reality on the drones that has most impressed Rudge.

“Those elements coming together has created a spectacular, innovative broadcast. If you add all those things together then the fireworks happen and you get those moments. There might not be many shows globally that are able to bring all those elements together into one package, and that in itself is, I hope, quite a unique achievement, and something that the foundation and IMG are proud to have brought to screens.”

McCabe is equally enthusiastic: ‘With EWC Spotlight, we’ve created a format that welcomes in the mainstream – through celebrity appearances, cultural storytelling, and high-end production – while still respecting the competitive integrity and authenticity that core esports fans expect. It’s a tailored, hybrid approach that ensures we can grow the tent without losing our identity.

“We want the Esports World Cup to feel like it’s evolving year-on-year, not rebooting. That means raising the bar across content, reach, fan experience, and production value, but doing it in a way that feels connected to the DNA of what we’ve already built. If we hit those quality marks and grow the audience without losing the soul, then we’ll be in a great place.”