The long-running ESL Premiership (aka ESL Prem) esports tournament series for the UK & Ireland has been given a new look.
It’s part of a wider announcement, with ESL Gaming – a part of the ESL FaceIT Group – today announcing that its National Championship tournaments will get new visual identity.
There are currently National Championships in ten different regions: Australia, the Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
Following the company’s big brand refresh in 2019 and the refreshed look for the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) brand earlier this year, ESL said in a press release ‘the time has now come for the NC to follow in their footsteps and to receive an updated and matching identity’.
“Ultimately, the main idea behind sharing a common visual style is to increase equality within the brand, highlight the company’s values, and support the strategy to continue leading the esports industry,” ESL said in a press release.
“With the new visual identity, we aim to strengthen the connection between the different levels of competition in our esports ecosystems.”
James Dean, ESL
The ESL National Championship is one of the longest-running local esports competitions, for amateur, semi-pro and professional players.
The first ever NC started in Germany in 2002 as ESL Pro Series, which was renamed to the ESL Meisterschaft in 2015.
All ten NCs host tournaments in several game titles and feature unique competitions relevant in their respective region.
With Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) being one of the most played titles in the NC, the story of Movistar Riders is the textbook example of the opportunity offered by the NC for local teams to advance in their careers.
Starting as ESL Masters Spain 2021 champions, the Spanish squad continued their journey to the top, beating some of the world’s best teams along the way, and making it all the way to one of the most prestigious live esports stages as they qualified for the IEM Cologne 2022 semi-finals.
In the UK specifically, James Dean, director of UK strategy and commercial at ESL, said: “For many years now, the Premiership has been a proving ground for both players and talents to cut their teeth before heading onto the global stages – the ESL Premiership truly encapsulates the “zero to hero” journey.
“The player Smooya is a perfect example of this – after his team Epsilon placed first in the ESL Premiership Spring 2018, he transferred onto the global CSGO team BIG and went on to place second with them at ESL One Cologne 2018.
“The national platform of the ESL Premiership was key in making Smooya’s dream a reality, and we hope to make many more dreams come true in the future!
“With the new visual identity, we aim to strengthen the connection between the different levels of competition in our esports ecosystems.”
For the most part, the new ESL National Championship visual identity refresh consists of the updated logo and a dedicated camouflage pattern.
ESL says the new graphic elements ‘allow the NC to be more coherent with the ESL Gaming brand, leaving enough space for each region to adjust the design to their local symbols’.
“This creates a perfect fusion between autonomy within the local competition’s visual identity and enhancement of the brand equity of ESL Gaming,” read a PR blurb.
There’s more info on each ESL National Championship at pro.eslgaming.com
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.
