ESL One Dota 2 Major: Global esports tournament coming to Birmingham in UK first

ESL (Electronic Sports League) One Dota 2 Major will take place at Arena Birmingham for three days this May.

The contest will see 12 world-class Dota 2 teams compete for a prize pool of $1 million.

ESL is the world's largest esports company.

Six of the 12 teams will be directly invited to participate, while the other six teams will be selected through online qualifiers open to teams in North America, South America, Europe, The Commonwealth of Independent States (also called the Russian Commonwealth), Southeast Asia and China.

The event will run from May 25 to 27.

Thousands of UK Dota 2 fans have always travelled abroad for European ESL One events, with the UK being the second largest visiting nation.

ESL managing director, James Dean described the news as 'a dream come true for the ESL UK team and a fantastic win for the UK scene'.

"Dota 2 was the very first tournament we ran just after starting up in 2012," said James.

"We are honoured to have this opportunity and hope to make the Dota 2 community extremely proud.

"We look forward to being an integral part of the success of this event, and to the potential of having ESL One back in Birmingham next year.”

Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority, Andy Street, said it was 'tremendous' news for the city to be 'playing host to such a prestigious international esports event'.

“Birmingham is renowned for major sporting events such as the World Indoor Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games, so we very much look forward to welcoming the Dota 2 community," said Andy.

"As the second largest city in the UK, Birmingham has a huge amount to offer and hosting the UK’s first Dota 2 Major adds to the city’s fascinating history.”

Head of sales at the NEC Group's arenas, Ian Congdon, added that the venue was 'thrilled to have been selected'.

"It’s the perfect place to bring the gaming community together," said Ian.

Birmingham has already hosted other ESL UK events including the ESL Arena - the largest esports activation ever held in the UK to date. Held at EGX 2017 at Birmingham’s NEC, 80,000 gamers had the opportunity to witness national and European game-play over four days.

Tickets for the ESL One Dota 2 Major go on sale from 11am on Thursday, priced between £22.10 and £148.60.

To register an interest in tickets, click here