The Major Esports Tournament Organizers in Europe

Although Asia is the leading gaming continent, Europe is not trailing too far. There are many tournaments that happen in Europe, and experts are projecting massive growth in the years to come. For the eSports industry to thrive, organizers must be willing to do the work.

In Europe, there are key players in the industry—those who connect sponsors like casino GG.bet, game developers, players and arenas. Today, you will get your introduction to the major eSports tournament organizers in Europe.

1. ESL

ESL is one of the biggest eSports organizers in Europe. The company is based in Cologne, Germany, and it has a total of 11 offices. The company is so huge that it even has TV studios. In Twitch, ESL is the largest broadcast organization.

What makes ESL great is that it does not limit itself to some games. It has a presence in various leagues and games, and it also has involvement with offline competitions. ESL is known for its clutches on big and branded leagues.

Here are some examples:

ESL One
Intel® Extreme Masters
StarCraft® II World Championship Series
ESL Pro Series

The company does not only cover eSports but anything related to gaming. It does advertising, TV broadcast, event management, and even gaming technology. All in all, it has a global footprint in the gaming industry. It has been around since the year 2000.

2. Dreamhack

Dreamhack is a Swedish company, and ESL recently acquired it. It specializes in organizing events and gaming festivals, tournaments, and championships.

Dreamhack has a record for the largest LAN party computer festival with the fastest internet connection. However, another organization beat them to it in 2012.

Dreamhack is involved in the following activities:

Festivals – they host computer events for several days, which they call The Gathering. They have seated participants who bring their own equipment.
Gaming competitions – since its existence, Dreamhack has given more than 3 million SEK in cash prizes. The games are not exclusive to Europe, as they also bring in talent from South Korea.

Dreamhack also hosts digital art and competitions. In these events, artists showcase their artwork like music, graphics, 3D and non-3D videos, and those who perform the best get an award. Some may even get a job in gaming companies. On some occasions, Dreamhack may also sponsor or organize expos and concerts.

3. Blast Premier

Blast Premier is one of the leading organizers of Counter-Strike tournaments. The company was founded in 2016 and had funding of 193 million USD. The company is based in Denmark. Apart from operating eSports games and tournaments, they also sell merchandise on their website.

Here are the other things that they do:

Broadcast studio show
Host arena events
News

Tickets are mainly sold on the company’s website, and they also stream the events worldwide.

4. Gfinity

Gfinity provides both online and live arena game platforms. Its revenue mainly comes from the broadcast and production of the tournament. Most of its earnings are from the UK. Gfinity is a publicly-traded company.

Here are the things that they do:

Media Group – they have a website where they release news, public relations, ads, and many more. The media group is comprised of several websites like Gfinityesports, Realsport101, EpicStream, and many more. The media group has about 14 million active users per month and 60 million impressions from various social media channels.
Joint ventures and partnerships – these things have something to do with creativity and production. They share work with other companies to launch and operate games, build communities, and other investments. They produce tech platforms and also commercial ones.

Gfinity has worked with a multitude of top brands, including Microsoft, EA Sports, Sky, Blizzard, and many others. Overall, Gfinity has its clasps on many aspects of the gaming industry, such as, but not limited to, the following:

Media and publication – news releases.
Arena operations – rented arenas for gamers and other organizers.
Tournaments and sponsorship – they sponsor and run tournaments.
Tournament platforms – these are software and machines that allow others to organize their tournaments.

Gfinity is not just another game organizer. It does have its own tech IP design. They develop and deliver new and interesting programs for game publishers and brands. On top of this, they also work with other media outlets.

Summary

The job of the organizer is to make the event happen. Pretty much, they are the producers of the tournament. They need to fund part of the tournament and then look for sponsors who will do the rest. The organizer is also responsible for all prizes, computers, the arena, marketing, and security.

Organizing an eSports tournament is like organizing a concert. It requires a lot of money, effort, and expertise. With the rising popularity of eSports, more and more companies will take on the challenge and bring fans and players more big events.