For transparency: Esports News UK editor Dom Sacco was hired on a freelance basis by British Esports to help edit the UKETC press release
A new independent not-for-profit committee consisting of leading UK esports teams has formed, supported by the British Esports Association, ‘to help progress and grow the UK esports industry to become more globally recognised’.
The UK Esports Team Committee (UKETC) says it will act as a collective voice of UK teams in wider industry discussions, representing their views and interests to the wider UK esports and video games industries and to Government, and to encourage professionalism within UK esports.
Founding members of the UKETC include seven well-known UK orgs: Endpoint, Excel, Fnatic, MNM Gaming, London Royal Ravens, London Spitfire and Vexed Gaming. Other teams are able to apply to join the committee.
The press release sent out today comes after Dexerto reported last week the UKETC was due to form.
“The UKETC will identify ways to enhance the credibility of esports in the UK, acting as a source of advice and educational resource for other UK esports teams,” reads the press release. “The aim is to bring teams together to lift UK esports as a whole by improving commercial opportunities for UK esports teams, establishing a set of standards for professional esports teams in the UK and have UKETC as a voice involved in the conversation with other esports bodies such as British Esports and Ukie.”
While the British Esports Association will support the UKETC, the committee will not be a formal sub-committee under British Esports. The UKETC says this will allow it to operate independently, ‘whilst still allowing it to work together according to its shared values of credibility, education, inclusivity and sustainability’.
The committee will come together to accept new teams wishing to join and have produced a set of criteria that they will use to assess their decision making, such as being a registered limited company in the UK, having a brand history spanning three years or more, having a ‘respectable track record of competing in esports competitions, demonstrable contractual commitments to staff and players’, and more.
The UKETC also said that ‘organisations who do not meet all requirements, but excel in a number of the stated requirements, are still encouraged to apply and may still be accepted’.
The full list of criteria and more info can be found on the UKETC 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.
