From ESPN to the Spreadsheet Arena: How Excel MVPs Powered the Microsoft Excel World Championship
If you’ve ever watched someone do serious data work in Excel - building a model that feels like magic or using a perfectly crafted LAMBDA to do in one line what used to take a page of helper columns - you already understand the spirit of Excel esports. The Microsoft Excel World Championship (MEWC) turns that spirit into a live competition: timed “cases,” real-time leaderboards, and a crowd that cheers for spreadsheet moves the way sports fans cheer for a buzzer-beater. At the 2025 MEWC Finals (held December 1–3, 2025 at the HyperX Arena in Las Vegas), Microsoft MVPs showed up everywhere - on the broadcast desk, behind the scenes writing cases, and throughout the community sharing training tips and “inside tricks.” And in the biggest MVP moment of all, Excel MVP Diarmuid Early took home the world championship title. “The Excel World Championship is a high-stakes, fast-paced competition where top Excel users from around the world solve complex, timed challenges using advanced formulas and strategies.” – MVP Oz du Soleil Meet the Champion: MVP Diarmuid Early Winning the Microsoft Excel World Championship isn’t about memorizing a few formulas - it’s about staying calm under pressure, translating messy scenarios into clean models, and finding the fastest path from question to answer. In 2025, that combination belonged to Diarmuid Early, who battled through a field of elite competitors and emerged as the Microsoft Excel World Champion. One of the most MVP things about this win is what happened after the confetti: Diarmuid has been sharing how he thinks about cases and how he trains. If you want to learn by watching a world-class workflow end-to-end, start with his Road to Las Vegas 2025 video playlist, then check out his behind-the-scenes breakdown video, I won the Excel World Championship by folding Origami in a spreadsheet. It’s part engineering, part creativity - and 100% Excel. Diarmuid’s story also illustrates the bigger point: Excel esports is community-powered. The same people who teach, write, and answer questions every day are the ones shaping the competition - whether they’re designing challenges, explaining strategies on-air, or helping new players level up. Here’s a look at how MVPs helped make MEWC 2025 happen. (left) and MVP Oz du Soleil (right) in the commentary booth, breaking down the action at the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Championship (MECC) 2025. Photo credit: Giles Male On the mic: MVPs bringing Excel esports to the world “I was leaning over the commentators balcony looking out at hundreds of Excel fanatics who had travelled to Vegas to watch other people battle it out on spreadsheets… I just remember looking at Oz, and Oz looking at me, and he said '... we get to do this for a living?? I love my life'.” - MVP Giles Male For many viewers, the first “wait… Excel has a world championship?” moment happens because MEWC is genuinely fun to watch - especially with experts translating the action in real time. MVPs have been front and center on the broadcast, providing commentary that balanced entertainment with the kind of technical clarity only seasoned Excel educators can deliver. Oz du Soleil (Excel on Fire) is a long-time Excel educator known for making advanced concepts approachable - and for bringing serious storyteller energy. As an Excel esports commentator, Oz helps viewers understand not just what competitors are doing, but why their approach works (and when it doesn’t). Giles Male (Full Stack Modeller) brings deep modeling credibility to the desk - and, as he’s shared, sometimes gets the call with almost no notice. That combination of expertise and adaptability is exactly what makes live Excel commentary work. Jon Acampora (Excel Campus) is a familiar voice to many in the community, and his teaching-first mindset shows up perfectly in esports commentary: quick explanations, smart shortcuts, and a constant focus on helping viewers learn while they watch. Tim Heng (Sum Product) adds both technical sharpness and audience-friendly pacing - calling out the “tiny” decisions that separate good solutions from great ones (keyboard efficiency, formula structure, and when to stop polishing and submit). (left) and MVP Tim Heng (right) adding their commentary at the Microsoft Excel World Championship 2025. Photo credit: MVP Celia Alves What makes MEWC different: cases, clocks, and commentary prep “We get the cases a few days early so we can solve them ourselves - and then we map out how to explain the key moves, because the competition moves incredibly fast.” - MVP Oz du Soleil MEWC challenges competitors with timed Excel “cases” - scenario-based problem sets where accuracy, speed, and strategy all matter. The Finals are streamed on YouTube (and have also appeared on ESPN’s The Ocho), which means the broadcast must serve two audiences at once: hardcore Excel nerds who want to see the formula choices, and curious newcomers who just want to understand why the leaderboard is moving so fast. That’s where MVP commentary shines. As MVPs like Oz and Giles have shared, the commentary team typically receives cases in advance, works through solutions, and plans how to explain the key decision points - because once the clock starts, competitors can be done before you’ve even finished reading the question. “I was asked to step in 48 hours before the finals commenced. Which meant I had to try to learn all 9 battle cases in two days… this was all very intense, nerve-wracking, but just an amazing experience and opportunity overall.” - MVP Giles Male Behind the scenes: MVPs designing the puzzles (and sharing the playbook) Great esports needs great “maps.” In MEWC, that means cases that are tricky, fair, and fun - designed to reward strong spreadsheet fundamentals and creative approaches. Several MVPs contribute to the ecosystem that makes those cases possible, including MVPs David Brown, David Fortin Giles Male, Klinsmann Langhanz, Renier Wessels, and Tim Heng who create Excel challenge cases for the competition and for practice. And then there’s the part you can’t put on a scoreboard: the ongoing sharing culture. Around every battle, MVPs and community experts swap approaches, publish walkthroughs, break down solutions on YouTube, and teach the mental models that help competitors get faster. That might look like a new keyboard shortcut habit, a reusable “personal LAMBDA collection,” or a clever way to structure a model so you can answer six questions without rebuilding your logic six times. Why it matters (beyond bragging rights) Excel is one of the most widely used technology platforms on the planet - and yet many people still underestimate what it can do (or what great Excel users can do with it). MEWC puts advanced spreadsheet skills on a public stage and makes them legible: you can see the tradeoffs, the patterns, the creativity, and the discipline. When MVPs are involved at multiple levels - broadcasting, designing, teaching, competing - it sends a clear signal: this is a real craft, and the community around it is generous with knowledge. “Excel [is] the one tool that almost everyone has had to use at some stage in their career… 95% of the conversations I have with people who don’t know about it start with ‘No way… that exists??’ And then you start watching, and it’s just fascinating to see what a top Excel esport player can actually do.” - MVP Giles Male MVP Giles Male Watch it, learn from it, then try it Want to watch before you try it yourself? You’ve got two great options: a quick recap, or the full multi-hour deep dive. Highlights: Microsoft Excel World Championship 2025 Finals Highlights (12:43) Full competition: Microsoft Excel World Championship 2025 – Finals (4:00:54) And, if you’re thinking “My Excel skills aren’t enough,” that’s actually the perfect place to start - because you improve by doing cases, reviewing solutions, and iterating. You can jump in through Excel Esports Online, and explore practice material with sample cases (free) and case studies (fee). Many competitors (including MVPs) also share solution walkthroughs - often complete with explanations and reusable formulas. The pipeline is real: MECC and the next generation of Excel athletes One of the most exciting parts of the Excel esports story is how quickly it’s building a next-gen talent pipeline. Alongside MEWC is the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge (MECC), a global competition for college students created by Excel MVP David Brown. It’s an on-ramp for students who want to test their skills, meet the community, and learn in public. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s a great starting point: From the Classroom to Las Vegas: MVP David Brown and the Excel Esports Revolution. Together, MECC and MEWC show how Excel learning can be both rigorous and genuinely fun - whether you’re a student, a seasoned analyst, or someone who loves discovering a cleaner way to write the same logic. Join the Excel community (and learn from the MVPs) Whether you watched MEWC on ESPN, caught a highlights clip on YouTube, or you’re quietly building a practice workbook at 1 a.m., the best part of Excel esports is that it’s welcoming. You don’t need to be “ready.” You just need to be curious - then practice, learn, and repeat. “To future competitors: just start. Don’t wait… You get better by competing. So just get stuck in, and learn from the early experiences which we all have to work through!” - MVP Giles Male If you want to sharpen your skills, trade ideas with other spreadsheet nerds, and learn directly from the people who teach the world’s best Excel techniques, join the Excel community and connect with our Excel MVPs. Start by exploring the championship home base at the Microsoft Excel World Championship website, try a few cases, and then share what you learned - because the fastest way to level up is to learn together.Introducing the Viva Engage Track at the 2026 Microsoft 365 Conference
Internal communications has never been more complex — or more essential. Whether you’re trying to cut through the noise, connect leaders with employees, or bring clarity to AI-driven change, the role of the modern communicator is evolving fast. At this year’s M365 Community Conference, we’re excited to bring you the Viva Engage Track — a focused learning path designed to help communicators, HR leaders, IT partners, and community champions build connected, informed, and high‑performing workplaces. You’ll get access to Microsoft’s own communications experts, Viva Engage product leaders, and practitioners who run global‑scale comms — all ready to share the patterns, storylines, frameworks, and real‑world playbooks that drive impact. You’ll learn how to inform, inspire, and activate employees in ways that actually work at scale. 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Use data, insights, and employee listening to build your comms strategy How do you measure and define success, and leverage signals from employee engagement and listening to drive business transformation and performance? Join Microsoft communications and product leaders for a practical look at how to build an effective listening system with tools including Engage, Insights, Glint and Pulse. Learn how to empower leaders and change agents with a comprehensive, 360-degree view of employee sentiment. And explore how insights can inform strategies and tactics to achieve your business objectives. Events, Communities & Knowledge Sharing Company-Wide Events—Scaling Innovation with Engage Learn how organizations run high-impact town halls, all-hands, and campaigns using Events, Q&A, Storyline, and Copilot. Product Group experts Dan Holme and Tricia Lybrook will give you the end-to-end experience for creating events your employees will remember! AI-Powered Collaboration: Unlocking Your Employee Knowledge Base See how Engage, Copilot, and intelligent agents help surface expertise and solve problems faster, while keeping people in the loop. See demos and learn directly from product group leaders Allison Michels and Ramya Rajasekhar about making this reality in your own organizations. Governance, Deployment & AI Transformation From Governance to Growth: A Practical Playbook for Viva Engage Deployment Turn governance, readiness, and compliance into a launchpad for adoption and engagement. Hear directly from the Product Group Leaders, Venkat Ayyadevara and Spencer Perry. Community in the Age of AI - Humans at the center of Copilot Adoption Elevate your communications and campaigns through the power of community and peer-to-peer lead learning. Communicators can lead the AI transformation at your company. Learn how AI-powered agents support community managers, but humans drive rituals, events, and engagement. Hear product experts Allison Michels and Sarah Lundy as they take you behind the scenes and showcase some Microsoft employee favorites, like the Copilot Adoption Community, campaigns, Camp Copilot and more. The Communicator’s Guide to Viva Engage Learn how to maintain relevance and authenticity in the age of AI through personalization, targeting, and sequencing that respects how people work. Learn from Product Group expert Sarah Lundy, drawing on her experience at Microsoft Digital Comms, and Product Manager Najla Dadmand as they show how technology and communications can work together. Spotlight Session: Engage Everywhere - The Viva Engage Roadmap One of the most anticipated sessions of the entire track, Engage Everywhere: Communities, Events & Storylines in Teams (Roadmap), offers a first look at what’s coming next. Hear directly from our Product Leadership Team, Jason Mayans, VP of Product, Steve Nguyen, Customer Experience, and Murali Sitaram, CVP Viva Engage. You’ll explore: The deeper native integration of Viva Engage inside Microsoft Teams -making communities, events, campaigns, and storylines feel seamless across devices and workstyles. AI-enhanced capabilities that connect employees to knowledge, leaders, and each other more intuitively and efficiently. New ways organizations can unify communications and engagement across Teams, Engage, Email, and SharePoint. What’s next for Events, Storyline, and Communities as Microsoft continues to converge engagement experiences in one place. This session is designed to help you visualize the future employee communications and engagement ecosystem—and understand how to build toward it today. Key Takeaways: Whether you’re modernizing communications, rolling out Copilot, building communities, or shaping culture, you’ll walk away with: Practical templates, patterns, and playbooks Insights from Microsoft’s own communications experts Guidance for integrating AI responsibly and effectively Clear steps to elevate engagement across your organization The Viva Engage Track brings together the people driving community and connection every day, inside Microsoft and across customers to explore what’s working, what’s changing, and what’s possible. If you want to build stronger community, elevate employee connection, or shape the future of workplace storytelling, this track belongs on your agenda. Join us!
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