The world of competitive gaming, or esports, is mostly focused on first-person shooters, battle royale, and real-time strategy games. There are, however, a few sports titles that are rising in popularity in the global esports scene. A fan of football, Nolan Rosen esports competitor has around an 80% winning percentage in Madden NFL, one of the four-most played sports franchises in competitive gaming.
Here’s a look at four of the top sports games, with insight into peak viewership, tournaments, and prizes.
Rocket League
Rocket League, a soccer game played with vehicles instead of people, is one of the most popular sports-themed esports game in terms of peak viewership, according to Escharts.com. More than 468,000 people watched the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) 2023 World Championship, but that number has gone down in consecutive years, with only 290,867 people watching the RLCS 2025 World Championship. The 2022 event had a record $8.84 million prize pool.
Rocket League’s peak viewership was the 19th highest among all games in 2025, just below titles like Call of Duty: Warzone, Street Fighter, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. In contrast, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is first with more than 4.1 million peak viewers for a tournament.
The first-ever RLCS took place in August 2016, one year after its release, and had just a $55,000 prize pool. The game has won several awards, including the Excellence in Multiplayer prize at the 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards.
EA Sports FC
EA Sports FC, formerly known as FIFA, ranks 20th in 2025 peak viewership numbers with 273,651 viewers for the FC Pro 25 Open. The game has sponsored more than 430 tournaments over the years, including a record 89 in 2021, while peak viewership hit nearly 340,000 in 2023 for the FC Pro 24 Open – Global Qualifier. Since 2017, competitors have pocketed more than $23 million in prizes.
The world of competitive gaming, or esports, is mostly focused on first-person shooters, battle royale, and real-time strategy games. There are, however, a few sports titles that are rising in popularity in the global esports scene. A fan of football, Nolan Rosen esports competitor has around an 80% winning percentage in Madden NFL, one of the four-most played sports franchises in competitive gaming.
Here’s a look at four of the top sports games, with insight into peak viewership, tournaments, and prizes.
Rocket League
Rocket League, a soccer game played with vehicles instead of people, is one of the most popular sports-themed esports game in terms of peak viewership, according to Escharts.com. More than 468,000 people watched the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) 2023 World Championship, but that number has gone down in consecutive years, with only 290,867 people watching the RLCS 2025 World Championship. The 2022 event had a record $8.84 million prize pool.
Rocket League’s peak viewership was the 19th highest among all games in 2025, just below titles like Call of Duty: Warzone, Street Fighter, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. In contrast, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is first with more than 4.1 million peak viewers for a tournament.
The first-ever RLCS took place in August 2016, one year after its release, and had just a $55,000 prize pool. The game has won several awards, including the Excellence in Multiplayer prize at the 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards.
EA Sports FC
EA Sports FC, formerly known as FIFA, ranks 20th in 2025 peak viewership numbers with 273,651 viewers for the FC Pro 25 Open. The game has sponsored more than 430 tournaments over the years, including a record 89 in 2021, while peak viewership hit nearly 340,000 in 2023 for the FC Pro 24 Open – Global Qualifier. Since 2017, competitors have pocketed more than $23 million in prizes.
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