ESL One Birmingham became the most watched ESL One Dota 2 event in history

ESL One returned to the UK for its second year in a row event managing to set new viewership records all weekend long. The Birmingham tournament became the most viewed Dota 2 event in the history of ESL breaking the previous record set by the Hamburg Major two years ago.

Despite not being part of the official Dota 2 Pro Circuit, the event managed to feature some of the best teams in the world which in turn, lead to some very exciting matches throughout the tournament.

In the event’s Grand Final, Team Secret clashed with Evil Geniuses over five games played out of the Best of Five format. Team Secret managed to win their 4th ESL One title, surpassing last year’s Champions, Virtus.pro, who hold 3 titles.

New ESL One Birmingham viewership record

In total, over 24,000 fans were present at the Birmingham Arena with over 300,000 tuning into the live broadcasts. The total hours watched also saw a significant rise compared to last year’s event, with over 7.6 million hours registered over the course of one weekend. On social media, ESL One Birmingham saw nearly 8 million video views and just over 6 million impressions.

Ender’s Game actor Asa Butterfield joined the ESL Talent on screen who provided an in-depth analysis of the games, revealing himself to be a big Dota 2 fan. Present in the arena was also UK Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries, Margot James who met the players, organizers and the production crew.

Scott Gillingham, UK Gaming and esports Lead at Intel UK – the tournament’s main sponsored, said:

“We have seen incredible support from the UK esports community in the last year, so it’s been fantastic to return with ESL One Birmingham in 2019. Intel is committed to the future of esports, from hosting major tournaments to investing in the ideas, communities, and talent to show the world that esports is here to stay.”

About ESL One Birmingham 2019

ESL One Birmingham proved in May 2018 that UK is the place to be for Dota 2 events organizers, as the event became the fastest selling Dota 2 tournament in ESL history. Not only that, but the Midland’s city appears to be a veritable hub for Dota fans as the crowd gathered to celebrate their favourite teams was, quoting ESL, “one of the best crowds ever in esports.” In 2019, it offered a €300,000 total prize pool with $125,000 reserved for the tournament winner.

Photo credit: Helena Kristiansson, ESL One Birmingham