Inaugural Melbourne Park eSports event attracts thousands

September 5, 2018

More than 12,000 eSports fans attended Melbourne Park last weekend as the inaugural Melbourne Esports Open saw enthusiasts of all ages turn up to watch, play and compete in the biggest number of live esports tournaments ever held at an event in Australia.

The event, which took place on 1^st and 2^nd September at the Rod Laver Arena, also attracted massive online with fans viewing content from the event over 12 million times across Twitter, Facebook and Reddit.

Explaining that the success of the first Melbourne Esports Open shows that eSports has a bright future on Australia’s major events calendar, Geoff Jones Chief Executive of co-promoter TEG, stated “we see in Europe, Asia and North America that major esports tournaments attract live audiences of 40,000 to 50,000 fans and millions online.

“There is no reason to doubt that Australia can follow that trend and make the Melbourne Esports Open a huge live event and a significant global esports competition.”

The League of Legends’ Oceanic Pro League Grand Final was the main event on last Sunday, with fan favourites and four-time champions the Dire Wolves taking home the trophy after toppling the Chiefs Esports Club in a 3-1 victory. The Dire Wolves will now represent Australia in the League of Legends World Championship in South Korea, and represent the Oceania region in the global championship.

The Overwatch Contenders Australian Semi and Grand Finals shared the spotlight on the Rod Laver Arena main stage on Saturday 1st September. The Sydney Drop Bears took home the title as champions of Overwatch Contenders Australia Season 2, taking out Dark Sided 4-1 in the Grand Final. It was a titanic struggle where the unrelenting pressure and cool decision-making of the Drop Bears was too much for Dark Sided after a great start.

Meanwhile, the adjacent Margaret Court Arena was transformed into the ESL Tournament Zone - a multi-tournament venue, featuring Forza, Overwatch, CS:GO, Pokemon and headlined by global sensation Fortnite.

Outside of Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena, thousands of fans packed into the JB Hi-Fi Game On Zone, to free play some of the hottest games along with first to play access to some of the biggest upcoming games including Marvel’s Spider-Man, Tom Clancy’s The Division and Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

Melbourne Esports Open is co-promoted by ESL, TEG Live and Fairfax Events with the support of Visit Victoria, Victoria's tourism and events agency.

Images of the inaugural Melbourne Esports Open courtesy of the Rod Laver Arena/Facebook.

21st August 2018 - New name for Melbourne’s Hisense Arena

24th July 2018 - QUT launches eSports student scholarship

4th June 2018 - Melbourne and Olympic Park to host Australia’s largest eSports event

5th February 2018 - eSports arenas to be launched in Hoyts cinemas

20th November 2017 - Australia’s first high performance eSports venue opens at the SCG

6th September 2017 - TEG Analytics and TEG Rewards shine light on growth in eSports

19th May 2017 - IEM eSports debut Australian event attracts 8 million global viewers

18th May 2017 - Australian first as Adelaide Crows acquire eSports team

5th May 2017 - AFL looks to eSports to engage with new audiences

4th May 2017 - Most professional sports teams to soon have an eSports presence

28th April 2017 - Asian Games 2022 to feature eSports events

10th March 2017 - TEG Live partnership to bring IEM eSports event to Sydney

16th February 2017 - NBA taps into the fast growing eSports market

Asking a small favour
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

The news we publish at www.ausleisure.com.au is independent, credible (we hope) and free for you to access, with no pay walls and no annoying pop-up ads.

However, as an independent publisher, can we ask for you to support us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine - if you don't already do so.

Published bi-monthly since 1997, the printed Australasian Leisure Management differs from this website in that it publishes longer, in-depth and analytical features covering aquatics, attractions, entertainment, events, fitness, parks, recreation, sport, tourism and venues management.

Subscriptions cost just $90 a year.

Click here to subscribe.