DOTA 2 fans and eSports enthusiasts will descend on Germany soon for a virtual rumble the likes of which have not been seen in history. Yes, Europe’s largest esports festival returns with ESL One Frankfurt for the third consecutive year. The esports competition on June 18-19 will feature eight of the world’s best Dota 2 teams and award over US$250,000 in prize money. Göt in Himmel, that’s a lot of coin. Alongside this, the event’s festival elements will offer the world’s largest celebration of the game through related activities for on-site visitors. Beerwurst and sauerkraut or not required, but highly recommended.
From what we are told on this side of the Atlantic, ESL One Frankfurt 2016 will expand its festival offering from previous years with an extended line-up of side activities both inside the stadium and on the surrounding fields. Last year, activities such as archery and bull riding entertained over 30,000 attendees across the event weekend– highlighting an attendance growth of 20% from the previous year. Visitors from 55 countries made the trip to Frankfurt, some coming from as far as New Zealand and South Africa.
“The average visitor in 2015 travelled more than 150 km and that’s something we’re very conscious about wanting to justify,” said Ulrich Schulze, VP Pro Gaming at ESL. “This year we’re looking to make the event the biggest and best yet: on-site visitors will be able to watch the best in competitive Dota on the industry’s largest screen. Measuring in at over 500m2 and easily one of the top 50 largest video screens worldwide, the viewing experience will be on par with that of the Yankee Stadium.”
The event itself is set to be an industry record-holding spectacle, according to organizers. Alongside being the largest European Dota 2 festival in terms of live attendance, the event broke online viewership records both in 2014 and 2015. To date, ESL One Frankfurt remains the most-watched independent European Dota 2 event in history having reached a peak concurrent viewership of over one million in 2015. Year-on-year, online viewership has doubled with numbers expected to rise in the coming year.
Thinking of flying out to Germany to check it out? Tickets for ESL One Frankfurt 2016 go on sale starting December 17, 2015 and will be available on TicketMaster. Prices range from €29-249 for standard and premium tickets. Private “Aegis Experience” lounges also available for €2,999.
For more information on ESL One Frankfurt visit the official product website.
SOURCE: ESL One Frankfurt Press Release