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The average esports fan (typically aged 18-34) has high expectations of major events – broadcasts should be fun, shiny and engaging, venues should be decent, and everything should run smoothly. And if there are any issues, they certainly aren’t afraid to speak their mind on social media.
But what if it’s your first ever esports event? What if you’re entering the space blind, not knowing what to expect? What if you’re watching it through the eyes of a seven-year-old? Dom Sacco brought his son along to the RLCS London Major 2024 to find out how child-friendly esports events are. And with the RLCS Birmingham Major 2025 around the corner, we thought it’d be the perfect time to finally publish this piece. Note: Some fan chants featuring swearing below, and some images edited to protect identity.
The UK has hosted some fantastic esports events over the years, with vocal crowds and plenty of atmosphere.
Call of Duty and Counter-Strike are amongst the UK’s most popular competitive games, but given they have adult content, a 3+ age rated game like Rocket League is of course more suitable for younger folk interested in esports. My son and I may have had a nightmare making changes to his cabined account, courtesy of Epic Games, but that’s for another article. For now, onto the event.
With London’s Copper Box Arena playing host to the RLCS London Major 2024 last May, I took my seven-year-old along to experience his first ever live esports event on Sunday June 23rd. The goal: to watch some of the world’s best Rocket League players score goals by driving their virtual cars into a giant ball, of course!
It was a school night, and we knew we wouldn’t be getting back home til gone midnight. But as a one-off and his first esports event, we went for it.
The Copper Box is a good venue for kids, as it has good transport links, being a 15-20 minute walk from Stratford train station. It’s spacious, and with a capacity of up to 7,500, it’s not as busy as a larger football stadium, for example.
There are the usual security checks at the entrance, and despite some first-event nerves from my son, we felt safe at all times.
As a G2 fan and casual player of Rocket League, my son’s excitement towards the event was off the scale.
‘How are you feeling about watching this esports event?’ I asked him.
“It’s really exciting because there’s loads and loads of teams, and I don’t know who’s going to win it!” he said. “I’m looking forward to watching G2! I like some of the players on their team.
“I was feeling a little bit nervous [when we entered the venue] but then I got a little bit better.”
With us having press tickets instead of specific seats, we ended up walking around a little aimlessly inside the venue, until we came across things that caught our attention, like merch stalls and a challenge area from Manchester City promoting their esports activities. The merch was really popular, with only a few posters and hoodies left by the time we got there on the last evening of the finals. Luckily, my son managed to get a shirt and cap from a goody bag (thank you, Blast).
We found a good spot in the upper seating area, giving us a nice view of the stage and the screens.
“It’s really exciting because there’s loads and loads of teams, and I don’t know who’s going to win it! I’m looking forward to watching G2! I like some of the players on their team.”
Mini-Sacco
Just as we were settling in, with the Team Falcons vs Gentle Mates match about to start, a huge crowd of fans took most of the seats in our block. They started chanting in French.
At first, I thought they were fans of French esports organisation Gentle Mates, but I soon realised they were actually cheering for Saudi Arabia’s Team Falcons, and hoping Gentle Mates would lose.
It turns out this large crowd was formed of fans of a rival French org, Karmine Corp, who had booked their tickets before Karmine failed to qualify for the playoffs.
My son actually enjoyed the chanting, and clapped along with them at times, soaking in the atmosphere. He even joined in with KCorp fans in waving goodbye to Gentle Mates when they were eliminated from the competition!
But I’m glad he couldn’t understand what they were saying, because turns out they they were swearing! (note, graphic swearwords written in the tweet below)
G2’s community specialist LordFlab was not impressed by the actions of the KCorp fans, though I personally didn’t mind it. I’m just glad the chants weren’t in English.
It also reminded me of football culture in the UK, with any kids at live matches often within earshot of chants unsuitable to them. Parents will know this, and it’s for them to decide whether they want to bring their children along to live events like these.
I will say, I’ve been to many esports events over the years – mainly League of Legends ones – and have rarely heard sweary chants. Though I personally wouldn’t take my son to a grassroots LAN event just yet, where some players are known to shout insults, banter and more (for example, ‘you’re f****** s***!’) at rival teams now.
“The M8/Team Falcons match was a great first series for my son to watch, with Falcons winning 4-3 and advancing to the grand final. He didn’t really know who to support in this match, but afterwards I think he liked Falcons more – just because they won!”
As we had press passes, I showed the little one the press room and content creator lounge, which offered us a nice respite from the matches and our journey into London. While this isn’t something that will always be accessible to all, the Copper Box has good facilities in general, with food areas and toilets easy to find. Saying that, each esports event can vary greatly depending on the game and how it’s been set up. Esports organisation Gaimin Gladiators were not happy with the facilities at the RLCS London Major, for example, with the team’s practice room being next to an open toilet area.
Staff were friendly and welcoming, and the assistant by the lift to our seats went the extra mile to greet us each time and chat to us. I also think this was partly due to the fact that my son was probably the youngest (and shortest!) person in the building, and she wanted to make sure the little one was enjoying himself.
The atmosphere overall offered a great introduction to esports for any kids in attendance.
While there were a few other children at the event, I only spotted probably 10 or 20 or so, with the majority in attendance seemingly aged in their 20s.
We also bumped into a few other UK esports names, including British Esports president Chester King (and his little one). My son also had a photo taken with Resolve COO Jeff Simpkins, coach Tadpole and streamer Jorhdys (pictured top), who were still with the organisation at the time. Resolve went on to depart Rocket League at the end of 2024, which my son and I are still sad about. He still has his Resolve cap to remember the event, though (cheers Jeff)!
We also bumped into UK streamer TwistedHumanoid and her 13-year-old Apex Legends streamer Titan FPS (pictured below). TwistedHumanoid, like myself, is a parent working in the games industry, and previously discussed ageism in esports and gaming in a podcast with me last year.
They were really excited to meet some of their heroes at Oxygen Esports, and posted some pictures below.
From my experience, players and personalities are generally happy to have their photos taken with fans, and if they have the time, will be happy to sign autographs and chat. Again, depending on the game, the size and layout of the event, and the stature and time of the teams/players.
Onto the next semi-final, then, where G2 faced Furia.
At one point he was so impressed with Furia’s defense, I heard him muttering, “that is top class, that is just top class,” to himself.
When Furia levelled the series to 2-2 after G2’s strong start, my son had his head in his hands, and thought the worst.
But, G2 pulled it back to win 4-2.
My son was over the moon to see his favourite team reach the grand final, and despite his fondness of Falcons in the earlier semi-final, there was only one team he wanted to win this major now.
When the grand final got underway at around 9pm, it was past my son’s bedtime. But he was not tired. Not yet anyway. He was buzzing to watch his favourite team take to the stage one more time.
It was uncertain after Falcons took game one, but G2 came back into it.
Goal after goal, we cheered, as the grand final neared its climax.
Just before 10pm, G2 were up 3-1. I asked my son: ‘Do you think G2 can win it?’
He responded with a sleepy nod.
G2 were dominant in the fourth and final game, scoring three goals to win 4-1.
G2 Stride had won the RLCS London Major 2024.
As we were walking back to the train station after a top event, I asked my son:
How did you find the RLCS London Major?
“It was very exciting at the end, cos at the start Falcons were so quick on the ball, but then G2 got in the action and scored loads of goals,” he said.
“My favourite part of the finals was when G2 won, all the confetti came out and it went all sparkly, with red and white and blue colours.
“I’m happy G2 won! Let’s go, G2!
“Anyway, Falcons were the better team [in game one] but G2 got better [as the match went on]. It’s a bit like in Mewtwo Strikes Back, Ash isn’t very good but Mewtwo is, but then Ash wins it.”
Mini-Sacco
On the train back, he fell asleep instantly. We didn’t get home til gone midnight, as predicted.
He had school the next morning, and his sleep wasn’t as long as usual, but he had so many stories to share with his schoolfriends the next day, dreams of playing for G2 in the future – and memories to last a lifetime.
Related article: The London Pokémon EUIC is another esports event that’s ideal for kids and families, given it has Junior tournaments for kids aged 12 and under
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.
