KPL 2025 Grand Finals Breaks Esports Attendance Record

An esports tournament in Beijing has set the record for the largest attendance for an esports match with 62,196 attending the event in the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

The Honor of Kings King Pro League (KPL) 2025 Grand Finals, hosted by Tencent and organized by Hero Esports, broke the record on November 8, with tickets to the finals selling out online in 12 seconds. The event featured a prize pool of nearly $1 million, with the winning team — China’s Chengdu AG Super Play — taking home $280,000.

The Bird’s Nest, which served as home for the Opening Ceremony at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games and 2022 Olympic Winter Games, allowed for creative potential and challenges, according to Hero Esports. Among the challenges were the deployment of large screens in the stadium’s open structure. To compensate, Hero Esports deployed an structure that encompassed 10 stage screens that could be opened and closed to synchronize with the tempo of each match. Beyond the main stage, a giant LED floor screen synced with the lighting system to provide an immersive experience fans.

The opening ceremony featured 124 dancers performing alongside Chinese singer Han Hong while an AR-crafted golden “loong” dragon danced along the massive LED screens. Singer Zhou Shen joined the stage for the halftime performance.

“History was made at the Bird’s Nest this year,” said Danny Tang, CEO and co-founder of Hero Esports. “This flagship event was a spectacle of technology and passion unlike anything seen before, and the success of the event is testament to the fact that esports truly can take place in any venue in any part of the world.

“85% of the fans in attendance travelled from outside of Beijing, including Xinjiang and Hainan as well as overseas countries such as Malaysia and Australia. This global demand for the KPL Grand Finals highlights the powerful connectivity of esports and its ability to transcend borders and cultures, much like major traditional sporting events.”

“This was a challenging event with huge demands — 60,000 spectators, a world-class venue, a complex opening ceremony — any single misstep could have impacted the overall effect,” said Sun Chunxiao, the chief director of the KPL Finals at Hero Esports. “Yet, I was willing to accept these limitations and evolve. Nothing is more disheartening than underestimating a team with dreams. In the end, we succeeded, making it to the Bird’s Nest — witnessing the rise of a Chinese esports dynasty.”

Founded in 2016, Hero Esports is the biggest esports company in Asia, producing more than 7,000 matches every year. The company is based in Shanghai with 12 global locations and has more than 1,100 employees.