Registration Opens for 2026 Microsoft Excel World Championship With $100,000 Prize Pool

Organizers of the Microsoft Excel World Championship (MEWC) 2026 have opened registration for the annual world championship in “competitive spreadsheets.” Anyone over 18 can enter the online qualification, and the top participants will head to the LAN finals in Las Vegas to compete for a $100,000 prize pool.

Esports built on formulas: How matches work

MEWC has long moved beyond routine accounting tests. The competition follows standard esports rules: players receive complex puzzle cases (Excel Esports Cases) requiring instant data array analysis, mathematical model building, and problem-solving under a tight timer.

Participants can use the software’s full toolkit to solve tasks:

• complex logic chains (XLOOKUP, IFS, INDEX/MATCH, LET);
• Power Query add-ins and scripts;
• automation via VBA macros.

According to the Microsoft Community Hub blog, professional casters commentate on matches, the leaderboard updates in real time, and the final stages are broadcast by sports network ESPN.

The Microsoft Excel World Championship took place in Las Vegas this week. Several of the top nerds on the planet competed to win thousands in prize money. Millions of other nerds watched online and cheered for the Alpha Nerds. pic.twitter.com/8vJ1Pcpi3T

— Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) December 6, 2025

Tournament bracket: From online qualifiers to Las Vegas

According to the tournament rules on the official MEWC website, the competition is divided into four main stages:

1. Open Qualifier (September 26, 2026): the online session will run in two time slots (8:00 AM and 5:00 PM London time), with the top 140 participants advancing to the group stage;
2. Group Stage (October 10 and 17): 256 players (including regional series winners) will compete in a Double Elimination format. The eight group winners will secure direct slots in the semifinals;
3. Last Chance Qualifier (November 30): an in-person 30-minute last-chance round in Las Vegas awarding another 16 playoff slots;
4. LAN Finals (November 30 – December 2): the final matches at the HyperX Arena inside the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas.

The final matches on December 2 will follow an elimination system: in the semifinals, the participant with the lowest score will be eliminated every five minutes until the top six analysts in the world remain for the final 40-minute matchup.

Prize pool and reigning champion

The MEWC 2026 winner will receive the grand prize of $20,000. Second place takes home $10,000, third place gets $5,000, and payouts extend to the top 50 participants on the leaderboard.

Entry for the open qualifier on the tournament website costs $50 (finalists cover their own travel and accommodation costs in the US).

Reigning champion Diarmuid Early of Ireland, dubbed “the LeBron James of Excel” by the community, will return to defend his title. He previously won the European Cup in Amsterdam, securing a direct slot in the semifinals.

The 2025 Microsoft Excel Championship recently finished in Las Vegas.

Former Deutsche Bank I-banker Diarmuid “Lebron James of Excel” Early (Ireland) beat actuary Andrew “The Annihilator” Ngai (Australia) in an origami spreadsheet test.

This is the Excel Turing Test for Claude. https://t.co/k7VAzwKIvP pic.twitter.com/TagHw7m3wM

— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) January 26, 2026