The Equal Esports Cup, a major tournament for women and non-binary players in the EMEA region, will return for its third consecutive year in 2025. The competition kicks off on July 1st and runs until August 24th.
Organized by SK Gaming, the Esports Player Foundation, and German telecommunications giant Telekom, with Riot Games as an official partner, this year’s tournament will feature 12 League of Legends teams competing for the championship title.
The top two finalists will advance to an offline grand final series at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany.
New Format Brings Fresh Competition
The 2025 Equal Esports Cup introduces significant changes to its format. Unlike previous years, teams will no longer play in a single round-robin tournament. Instead, the 12 participating teams will be divided into two groups of six, according to tournament organizers.
Each group will compete in a best-of-two round-robin format. The top 3 teams from each group will then advance to the playoffs. All matches will implement the Fearless Draft system, which is consistent with other major competitions in the League of Legends esports ecosystem. The top 6 qualifying teams will then battle in a double-elimination bracket featuring best-of-three series to determine the champions.
Participating Teams
Of the 12 total spots, 8 will be filled by invited teams, while the remaining 4 will be determined through open qualifiers. As of now, five invited teams have been confirmed:
- G2 Hel
- SK Gaming Avarosa
- Team Vitality French Bees
- Solary Académie
- Galions Pearl (formerly known as Team GO Aurora)
The announcement of the 3 remaining invited teams is still pending.
Last Year’s Results
The 2024 tournament saw NNOwO emerge victorious after a thrilling reverse sweep against G2 Hel in the finals. With their 2-1 victory, NNOwO claimed €5,000 (approximately £4,183) from the total prize pool of €10,000 (about £8,366).
Other participants in last year’s competition included Team GO Aurora, Chester Gaming, NORD Polaris, Vitality Rising Bees, MAD Lions KOI Female, SK Avarosa, Team BDS Valkyries, and Solary Academy (Thanks Esports Insider).
How to Watch
Esports enthusiasts can catch all matches of the Equal Esports Cup on the tournament’s official Twitch channel.
The Equal Esports Cup joins the Milk Cup as a premier competitive platform for women in the 2025 esports landscape, continuing to provide valuable opportunities for women and non-binary players to showcase their talents in competitive gaming.
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