ESL One's North American Fagship Event Makes Barclays Center Home

BROOKLYN (December 12, 2016) - Barclays Center has been named the home to ESL One's North American flagship event and the biggest esports tournament on the East Coast. ESL One New York for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will be held at the Brooklyn venue for the next four years, with the next event scheduled for September 16 & 17, 2017.  Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.com beginning Thursday, December 15 at 10 a.m. and more information can be found at esl-one.com.

ESL One New York, produced by ESL, the world’s largest esports company as a part of international entertainment group MTG, and AEG, the strategic long-term global partner of ESL, made its Barclays Center debut on October 1 and 2 of this year. The event set records with attendance of 8,500 fans on each of the main event days, and generated a total of 6 million unique online viewers. The weekend event featured the world’s best Counter Strike: Global Offensive teams battling for a share of the $250,000 prize pool with more than 1,000 hopefuls fighting for the $75,000 Street Fighter V purse in the Score eSports Brooklyn Beatdown.

“We are thrilled to make Barclays Center the home of ESL One for the next four years,” said Steven Roberts, Executive Chairman, ESL North America.  “This partnership will allow fans to experience the thrill of a professional esports competition in a first class venue and extend our reach with online viewership.”

“There is no doubt that Barclays Center is the ideal venue to showcase ESL One,” said Chuck Steedman, Chief Operating Officer, AEG Facilities.  “Along with our strategic partners ESL, we believe that the state-of-the-art amenities, facilities and technology Barclays Center has become known for combined with the passionate and savvy fans who attend esports events in the region will create the most incredible atmosphere and experience this signature event has ever encountered.  It’s these type of core events that will continue to play a role in the tremendous growth of esports we are now witnessing worldwide.”

“This announcement is the next step in our strategy to position Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment venues as the home to esports events,” said Brett Yormark, CEO of BSE. “We are proud to align with ESL and AEG to grow the exposure of esports in the market and attract a new audience to Barclays Center.”

The 2016 ESL One New York at Barclays Center saw record-breaking social media engagement, with more than 122 million impressions generated on ESL's Twitter and Facebook channels, which included more than 7 million fan engagements. ESL's own content reached more than 21 million unique fans worldwide, 10.6 million of which were generated via highlights and backstage content. Nearly 80,000 Twitter accounts joined the conversation around the event with approximately 182,027 tweets and a potential reach of 1.3 billion Twitter users, making ESL One New York one of the most talked about events in ESL history.

ESL and AEG’s partnership was created to further broaden the reach of esports around the world. ESL utilizes AEG’s global network of more than 120 clubs, theaters, arenas and stadiums for qualifying events, tournaments, and world championships.  The deal also leverages AEG’s leadership in live event production, ticketing, marketing and sponsorship to further promote and expand competitive esports worldwide.  Additionally, the two companies are looking to develop new esports events and expand the ESL’s global presence.