ESL One Birmingham 2024 has been officially announced by ESL, with the Dota 2 event details, tickets, prices, venue, format and more revealed.
Announced last year at ESL One Europe 2024 – part of the second season of the ESL Pro Tour (EPT) for Dota 2 – ESL One Birmingham 2024 will feature 12 teams battling it out for the lion’s share of the $1m total prize pool.
The competition will also be awarding 22,520 EPT leaderboard ranking points. With these points, contenders increase their chances of rising on the leaderboard and thereby receiving a direct invite for EPT tournaments as well as the EPT Finals later in the year.
The points could see more teams secure their spots at Riyadh Masters following BetBoom Team’s qualification earlier this year. Set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, later this year, Riyadh Masters will take place at Esports World Cup (EWC).
ESL One Birmingham was also due to return in 2020 but was cancelled due to covid.
“The Dota 2 community, especially in the UK, has truly proven itself for being fun-loving, engaged with the show, and not afraid to get involved,” said Shane Clarke, Director Game Ecosystems – Dota 2 at ESL Faceit Group.
“Bringing live Dota 2 to Birmingham once again, we are therefore thrilled to create more memorable and electrifying moments for fans, not just for those uniting at the Resorts World Arena in April, but also for those joining us from their homes around the globe.”
The event joins other UK esports events in 2024, including the 2024 PUBG Mobile Global Championship Grand Finals in December 2024, the League of Legends Worlds 2024 finals, which are coming to The O2 Arena on November 2nd, and the Counter-Strike Blast Premier Spring Final 2024, which will take place at the Wembley Arena from June 12th to 16th.
When and where will ESL One Birmingham 2024 take place?
ESL, an ESL Faceit Group brand, announced ESL One Birmingham 2024 powered by Intel is taking place on April 22nd to 28th 2024.
Fans can look forward to experiencing top-tier Dota 2 action live as the eight best teams of the tournament will take the stage at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham during the final three days of the competition.
This is the same venue that hosted the ALGS Championship 2023 and different to Arena Birmingham which hosted ESL One Birmingham in 2018 and ESL One set viewership records 2019.
When did ESL One Birmingham 2024 tickets go on sale and what do they cost?
The ticket sale for ESL One Birmingham 2024 commenced on Thursday December 14th 2023 at 3pm GMT.
Wave 1 prices for 3-day tickets started at £62.20 (including service fees, excluding a £2.95 administration fee per order). Ticket categories include: 3-day Premium tickets (£294.30), 3-day Plus tickets (£140.30), and Regular 3-day tickets (£62.20).
Day tickets were released during later waves.
More details about ticket types, what you get for the more expensive ones and information on how to secure a particular ticket can be found at https://www.esl-one.com/birmingham/#tickets
ESL One Birmingham 2024 Teams and Qualifiers
The top four squads on the leaderboard will receive a direct invite to ESL One Birmingham 2024. Which teams will fill the remaining eight slots will be decided via a set of Open and Closed Qualifiers taking place on Faceit, the platform for competitive gaming:
- The Open Qualifiers will take place on January 22 – 25
- The Closed Qualifiers will take place on January 26 – 30
The ESL Pro Tour (EPT) tournament will see 12 of the best teams from across the globe compete against each other for the coveted title, the $1,000,000 total prize pool, and the 26,640 valuable EPT Leaderboard ranking points available.
Amongst the contenders are Tundra Esports, the sole UK organisation at ESL One Birmingham, and OG’s British star Matthew ‘Ari’ Walker who will also be attempting to secure the trophy on home soil.
Update (January 2024): The confirmed teams are as follows.
- BetBoom Team (EPT Leaderboard)
- Gaimin Gladiators (EPT Leaderboard)
- Xtreme Gaming (EPT Leaderboard)
- Team Liquid (EPT Leaderboard)
- Team Spirit (Eastern Europe Qualifier)
- OG (replacing Klim Sani4, later 1win, from the Eastern Europe Qualifier)
- Shopify Rebellion (North America Qualifier)
- Talon (Southeast Asia Qualifier)
- Tundra Esports (Western Europe Qualifier)
- Team Falcons (Middle East and Northern Africa Qualifier)
- Heroic (South America Qualifier)
- G2.iG (China Qualifier)
See more info on how each team qualified in our article: ESL One Birmingham 2024 qualified teams.
ESL One Birmingham 2024 broadcast talent
The ESL One Birmingham 2024 broadcast talent list was announced in February 2024, and includes Sheever, Slacks and more.
- Sheever (host)
- Tsunami (host)
- Slacks (stage host)
- Pyrion Flax (reporter)
- ODPixel (caster)
- SUNSfan (caster)
- Gareth (caster)
- Fogged (caster)
- syndereN (caster)
- Lacoste (caster)
- Ephey (analyst)
- TeaGuvnor (analyst)
- Jenkins (analyst)
- Purge (analyst)
- Khezu (analyst)
ESL One Birmingham 2024 Format
On April 22 – 24, 12 squads will enter the Group Stage of ESL One Birmingham, which will see two round-robin groups featuring six teams battling it out in a two-game-series. The two best teams of each group proceed to the Playoffs Upper Bracket, while the teams placing third and fourth in their groups advance to the Playoffs Lower Bracket.
During the Playoffs on April 26 – 28, these eight teams will then face off against each other in a double elimination bracket. During this final stage of the tournament, all matches will be best-of-3, except for the Grand Final, which will be best-of-5.
Prize pool breakdown for ESL One Birmingham 2024
| TOTAL | $1,000,000 | 26,640 |
| 1st | $300,000 | 6,400 |
| 2nd | $175,000 | 4,800 |
| 3rd | $120,000 | 4,000 |
| 4th | $85,000 | 3,200 |
| 5th – 6th | $57,500 | 2,240 |
| 7th – 8th | $47,500 | 1,040 |
| 9th – 10th | $30,000 | 560 |
| 11th – 12th | $25,000 | 280 |
‘Time to Brawl’ and on-site side activities
Throughout the tournament, ESL One Birmingham’s theme – Time to Brawl – encapsulates Birmingham’s pubculture, while also recollecting and expanding on the competition’s previous editions in the city – live in 2018 and 2019, and online in 2020.
Fans, players, and teams alike will be invited to join the open-minded and positively spirited Brewmaster in a daring challenge and prove themselves.
Fans visiting the event live can also look forward to multiple on-site side-activities, including Dota 2 cosplay. Those looking to take their experience a step further and anticipating to visit the Resorts World Arena in character can apply for a cosplay ticket which grants them Premium access for two people and access to a dedicated cosplay lounge and dressing rooms throughout the weekend.
Predator Gaming is also powering up ESL One Birmingham 2024 with Intel, R8G Esports and epic giveaways, including the below.
Besides visiting the booths of brand partners including Intel, Monster Energy, DHL, and Visit Solihul, fans visiting ESL One Birmingham at the Resorts World Arena on April 26 – 28 can also look forward to a wide variety of on-site activities:
- Airbrush tattoos: Show off your support for your favorite Dota 2 team or for the game in general by getting an airbrush tattoo
- Boxing machine: Channel your inner Tusk and test your strength while showing off your might at one of two boxing machines
- Photo mirror: Take a picture at one of the photo mirror for one of the ultimate souvenirs of the event
- Balloon artist: A familiar – and much loved – face at many ESL One events, the balloon artist will be present to create fans’ favourite Dota 2 heroes and more
Furthermore, all cosplayers have the opportunity to show off their costume live onstage during the official Showcase. Regardless of experience level, all cosplayers can sign up to ESL One Birmingham 2024 here.
Where to watch ESL One Birmingham 2024
Fans around the world can check out the live broadcast on the ESL Dota 2 Twitch and YouTube channels and via dedicated broadcast partners. For those unable to tune in live, all matches will also be available to watch on-demand for free via YouTube.
Fans looking to experience the ambience of the Resorts World Arena in person from April 26-28 can visit the ESL One Birmingham website for further information about ticket types and more.
The competition will be broadcast live on the ESL Dota 2 Twitch (Main, Ember, and Storm) and YouTube channels, and via dedicated broadcast partners. Esports News UK will be covering the event live – see our latest ESL One Birmingham 2024 news here.
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.
