ESL One Birmingham was only announced a handful of days ago and it’s already proving to be a popular event. The very first Dota 2 Major to be hosted in the UK, it’s been made clear that it’s going to be a big one – selling over 1,000 tickets in the first five minutes of them being made available.
Specific numbers haven’t been released as of yet, but it’s evident that this particular Dota 2 event is out-performing any other hosted by ESL in the past. Ulrich Schulze, SVP of Product, ESL tweeted that “no Dota 2 event has ever sold tickets faster for us than [ESL One] Birmingham. Currently discussing an adjustment of the venue and stage layout to allow more seats since we are almost at capacity already.”
?@ESLDota2 fans, you are amazing, you've made it a historic day.#ESLOne Birmingham is officially the fastest selling ESL Dota 2 Major, EVER!
Thanks to everyone who has bought tickets so far! Have you got yours?
?️https://t.co/4ryLpvcsnj ?️ pic.twitter.com/9cgnLZD5ua
— ESL UK (@ESLUK) March 15, 2018
Dota 2 was the title that was played at ESL UK’s first ever tournament, so it’s crazy to see how well it’s set to perform six years later. ESL One Birmingham will take place on May 25-27th, with 12 teams from around the world facing off against each other for two very important prizes: the $1,000,000 (£716,260) prize pool and 1,500 qualifying points for The International 2018.
It was said to have been quite the battle to secure Birmingham as the location for the next Dota 2 Major, with two other ESL territories vying for the tournament to take place there. Birmingham is the UK’s second largest city by population, but it’s always overshadowed by London when esports is concerned – ESL UK will be hoping to change this when May comes round.
Esports Insider says: If the news of a Dota 2 Major being hosted in the UK wasn’t enough to get you excited, then we’re sure the record-breaking ticket sales for ESL One Birmingham will do the job. It’s building up quite the buzz, and we’re sure ESL UK will prove exactly why the city is the perfect host for such a big tournament.