EWC announces 40 esports orgs for its $20m Club Partner Program

The Esports World Cup (EWC) has announced the 40 esports organisations accepted for the 2025 EWC Foundation Club Partner Program.

The $20m (~£15.4m) initiative will provide financial capital to some of the biggest esports teams, including Fnatic, G2 Esports and T1.

The Club Partner Program was initially revealed in February last year to ‘promote sustainability for multidisciplinary esports clubs.’ Following more than 150 applications, 30 organisations joined the programme ahead of the inaugural EWC.

This year, the member limit was increased to 40 organisations. Participants can receive up to $1m (~£771,000) in funding to grow their brand and audience through content and marketing campaigns ahead and throughout the EWC 2025. However, programme participation does not guarantee a spot in this year’s tournament.

From nearly 200 applications, organisations were chosen based on their Club Championship 2024 performance, their potential across multiple games, social media presence, fan engagement and audience activation strategy. Moreover, eight clubs received direct invitations due to their EWC 2024 Club Championship ranking.

Nineteen organisations joined the initiative for the first time, while 21 returned from last year’s programme. According to a press release, the 2025 programme also focused on ‘high-growth regions,’ with six clubs from China and additions from Japan, India and LATAM.

The applications for the 20 interested Chinese teams were facilitated by Tencent E-Sports, which recently formed a strategic partnership with the EWC.

The EWC is a multi-title esports festival held annually in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and is primarily organised by the Saudi Arabian government-backed EWC Foundation. Its inaugural edition featured more than 20 tournaments and a $60m (~£45.4M) prize pool.

For the upcoming 2025 iteration, several titles and partners have been revealed already, including VALORANT, Counter-Strike and Chess.

Despite its magnitude, the EWC has been criticised by some members of the esports community. Such critics view the EWC and the increased influence of Saudi Arabia as a form of ‘esportswashing’ designed to distract from the country’s human rights violations.

Here is the list of all 40 esports organisation accepted into the 2025 EWC Foundation Club Partner Program: