ESI London 2018 Preview: League and event operators – The unsung heroes of esports

06 September 2018

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As esports spectators we, on the outside, see the finished product of months of preparation for one single event practically every weekend throughout the year. What a great many of us fail to realise though is exactly how much time and effort goes into producing these events, regardless of the scale, on or offline, major or minor.

Consider all the factors that go into putting together your favourite weekly league or even world championship at the end of a season: administrators, observers, producers, directors, talent, camera operators, graphic designers and operators, the list goes on and on. All of these require professionals with expertise not only in that field, but familiarity of applying it to an esports production.

Have you ever wondered exactly what goes into putting on an event tailored for the esports crowd? Everything from scouting, to set design, logistics, production, all facets will be covered at ESI London (September 18-20th) on the panel: League and event operations – The unsung heroes of esports.

We’ve gathered experts in esports event development to give in-depth insight into what exactly goes into putting on these events.

Confirmed Speakers:

  • Nikita Buffee – Business Development – ELC Gaming
  • James Dean – Managing Director – ESL UK
  • Alexander Chegrinez – Business Development Director – StarLadder
  • Cas Horwood – Senior Product Manager – FACEIT

Moderator
Gina Theresa – Code Red Esports

Nikita Buffee told Esports Insider he’s interested in discussing the value of live and online events: “At ELC we’ve been in a position where we are considering, particularly at the grassroots level, the various advantages and disadvantages of events that aren’t the ‘typical’ model of tier one teams competing at a tournament. There’s certainly a lot more that can be done with live events and we’re starting to see that particularly since the explosive popularity of the battle royale games.”

ESL is probably a name you recognise as one of the most prominent names in tournament organisation, and one of the early companies to host and broadcast events. Not only does ESL partner with companies such as Intel to hold major events throughout the year, but it holds online tournaments just about every week for anyone that wants to enter. That amount of competition requires a vast amount of behind the scenes resources. As such, ESL as a global business holds eleven offices and multiple broadcast studios worldwide.

DreamHack is another familiar name in esports tournaments with the popular series touring around the world and recently expanding to the United States. Not only does DreamHack manage tournaments at every stop but hosts a festival with exhibitors and BYOC events for anyone and everyone to join. No matter if it’s the largest event in Sweden or the newest event in Atlanta, DreamHack has thousands of people behind the scenes to pull off the most entertaining events of the year for you, the true esports fans.

Events like these happen (mostly) flawlessly thanks to the hundreds of different hands that work together to put them on. Thanks to companies like DreamHack and ESL, thousands of jobs are created every year to grow professionalism in esports and execute your favourite live and online events. 

Ready to book your ticket? You can do so here!