ESL One Birmingham kicks off bumper esports season in UK

16 minutes ago

Five young men in matching long-sleeved tops stand in a line on-stage. In the middle, one of them holds an oversized, goblet-shaped trophy over his head with both hands. He's smiling widely as hands in the crowd before him go up in celebration. His team-mates have their arms raised, applauding or pumping the air with their fists, giving the shot a celebratory mood. — Image caption,
Team Falcons romped to victory in the ESL One grand final in Birmingham

By Andrew Rogers

BBC Newsbeat

Thousands of fans packed into an arena to watch their team take a shot at glory might sound just like any other Sunday in the UK.

But this weekend in Birmingham was a little different.

The chants and cheers were for top-flight players in the ESL One Grand final – battling it out for a $300,000 (£239,628) prize.

It’s a major event in the esports calendar attended by 15,000 fans, watched by thousands more online, and fought by teams from around the world.

The tournament centres around Dota 2 – a multiplayer online battle arena (moba) game that first launched in 2013 and is one of the world’s most-watched esports.

Event host Jorien van der Heijden, better known to fans as Sheever, explains that two teams of five play against each other to destroy the enemy’s base.

“It is a very heavily strategic game,” she says.

And in the closing match, Team Falcons beat rivals BetBoom in a clean sweep, winning three games in a row to clinch the title.

It’s Sheever’s job to fill the gaps between – leading post-game discussions on stage and keeping the crowd engaged.

Although, she says, with a UK audience that’s never hard work.

“I feel like this Birmingham crowd is incredibly responsive,” she says.

“It’s just built into the culture. Somehow I think the football culture definitely is transferred over to esports here and the people know how to cheer.”

Major esports events coming to the UK isn’t a brand new thing – ESL held competitions in Birmingham in 2018 and 2019, and the country has a thriving grassroots scene with smaller contests held all the time.

But 2024 is definitely a bumper year for big spectator tournaments, with the massive League of Legends Worlds finals coming to London in November.

A woman in a red dress holds a microphone, smiling. Behind her, a stream of sparks from a pyrotechnic goes off. She's applauding, looking over in the direction of a large, goblet-shaped trophy. It's mostly silver but has a golden rim which reflects the sparks and stage lights.

Adela Sznajder

Host Sheever says esports events tend to have a supportive, “wholesome” atmosphere

Eduardo Sanchez Velasco, one of the main organisers of the weekend’s ESL event, says there are several benefits to staging events in the UK.

“Being an English-speaking country allows for a very international audience, right?

“When we do broadcasts in our esports events, it’s very nice to be able to just guarantee that anyone can understand the broadcast. Anyone that’s coming here already accepts this will be the international language.”

And, like Sheever, he says the audiences are “incredible”.

Eduardo also points out that ESL partnered with Solihull Council – which oversees the area where tournament venue Resorts World Arena is based – to stage the event.

It’s more used to hosting international music acts, but it seems that the local authority is one of those around the UK looking at the potential of esports to draw in a new crowd.

It says it secured £145,000 of funding from a £70m fund created after the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham.

Councillor Wazma Qais said it was hoped ESL One would “bring in thousands of people” and boost local businesses.

BBC Newsbeat has asked London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s office whether any similar funding had been secured for the League of Legends Worlds later this year.

A report from gaming industry body UKIE published last year said that more could be done to encourage elite esports events to come to the UK.

Fans are optimistic about this, and think that having more high-profile tournaments in Britain can only help to raise their profile.

Matthew told Newsbeat he thinks there’s a growing respect for esports, but more people are seeing it as a genuine way to entertainment.

“From an enjoyment perspective, people are looking at it more like real sports,” he says.

“And we’re moving away from stupid terms like ‘E-Athletes’ and just calling them gamers and being more real about it.

“But also seeing the value that those people have in the skillsets they can showcase and people can enjoy watching.”

A young woman and a young man stand next to each other, smiling. The woman has curly red hair and wears a black hoodie with "Time to Brawl" written in white block letters on the left chest. The man wears a beige hoodie with a bright yellow sun design - a circle in the lower corner with thick, straight lines representing sunbeams creating a pattern across the garment. He's wearing black-rimmed glasses and leaning slightly towards his friend, who is slightly shorter.

Fans Robyn and Matthew think esports’ reputation has improved

And Robyn, who was at a live esports event for the first time, adds: “It’s really something to behold how esports has kind of developed from something [that] was a bit of a joke into something that is actually being taken far more seriously.

“It’s really nice to see.”

ESL host Sheever says more esports events will show people that they’re “just a great experience”.

“People are just happy,” she says.

“People are loving sharing their passion. And it’s just an incredibly positive, wholesome event to be at.

“Everybody has just been loving it. They’ve been so supportive of each other. They’re making new friends every time and everybody is just really happy-go-lucky.”