ESL will once again welcome 12 of the world’s best Dota 2 esports teams to ESL One Birmingham powered by Intel this year.
The main tournament is set to take place from May 29th to 31st at Arena Birmingham, with the group stages running from May 26th to 28th.
Dota 2 teams will go head-to-head for the lion’s share of the $300,000 prize pool.
For the third consecutive year, the city of Birmingham will transform into the capital of Dota 2, letting British esports fans witness three days of esports action on the main stage at ESL One.
As well as this, the grand finale of the first season of the ESL Academy presented by DHL will take place.
Participating teams will consist of eight invitees and four regional qualifier slots for Europe and CIS, North America, China and South East Asia, which will be decided in early April.
During the best-of-two round robin group stage phase, eight out of 12 teams will earn spots in the playoffs at the Birmingham Arena to battle it out in front of the live audience.
The news comes after ESL UK was hit by major layoffs.
ESL One Birmingham has previously set viewership records in 2018 and 2019.
“We’re extremely proud of what ESL One Birmingham means to the Dota 2 community. With the support of players, partners and fans, Birmingham is a truly unique tournament and atmosphere which will no doubt deliver yet more unforgettable moments again this year,” said James Dean, CEO at ESL UK.
“We’re hugely thankful to each and everyone involved and would like to show our gratitude not only by providing a world-class final at the highest production level, but also by bringing even more excitement, features, and catchy chants to the Birmingham Arena.”
In terms of the separate ESL Academy, four of the top EU and NA Academy teams will play in the group stages on May 30th for a chance to make it to the grand finals on the main stage.
The entire season of ESL Academy will culminate with a winning team earning the lion’s share of a prize pool worth more than $240,000.
“We’re extremely proud of what ESL One Birmingham means to the Dota 2 community. With the support of players, partners and fans, Birmingham is a truly unique tournament and atmosphere which will no doubt deliver yet more unforgettable moments again this year.”
James Dean, ESL UK
“Linking ESL Academy to the biggest esports tournament in the UK provides Dota 2 action at all levels, which fans can engage with the experience onsite and online,” said Ulrich Schulze, Senior Vice President Product at ESL.
“It was therefore important for us to host the Academy’s finals at one of the most important tournaments in the ESL One series in Dota 2, ESL One Birmingham.”
Fans of Dota 2 still have the possibility to sign up via reach.gg and enter the ongoing season of ESL Academy.
Tickets for ESL One Birmingham will be available from Wednesday January 22nd at 3pm GMT via the Ticket Factory and will range in price between £39 and £129. There’s more info on the official website.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
