2025 Rocket League Championship Series coming to Birmingham
29 October 2024
At the start of this year, we wrote a piece about some of the biggest esports events to come to the United Kingdom in 2024. These included the 2024 League of Legends World Championship final in London and ESL One Birmingham 2024, just to name a few. Big events, not just for esports in the UK, but globally.
One major event we did not mention in the previously mentioned article was the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS), as this offline event was played at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas (United States). Unfortunate for British fans of Rocket League who would have loved to attend RLCS 2024, but there is better news on the way. In collaboration with the British Esports Federation and esports event organiser BLAST, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and the Solihull Council have just announced that they will be bringing the 2025 Rocket League Championship Series to the UK, to Birmingham to be precise.
Commonwealth Games Legacy Fund
On October 24th, 2024, the Solihull Council revealed that they had been working to bring the 2025 Rocket League Championship Series to Birmingham. With the help of the WMCA and BLAST, the fourteenth season of the RLCS will take place at the BP Pulse LIVE, the indoor arena of the National Exhibition Centre in Solihull (West Midlands, England), from March 27th to March 30th, 2025. The venue is expected to be offer seating to about 15.000 live spectators during the event.
The 2025 Rocket League Championship Series has largely been financed with public funds from the Commonwealth Games Legacy Fund. You might remember this source from previous articles, as it has funded more than a few esports events in the UK in the past few years. The 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games, which took place in the United Kingdom, was the first to feature an official esports tournament as well, including popular titles like Dota 2 and Rocket League. The 2022 Commonwealth Games finished with an underspend of about £ 70 million though, and part of that money was placed in the Commonwealth Games Legacy Fund. The UK government and the WMCA use this money to support regional sporting, music and cultural events, including esports in the UK.
Landmark moment for esports in the UK
Even though the United Kingdom is considered one of the global hubs for esports and gaming at the moment, the announcement to bring the 2025 RLCS to London is still big news for esports in the UK. Or as Chester King, current President at British Esports puts it, a landmark moment.
“Hosting the RLCS Major 1 in Birmingham is a landmark moment for UK esports, and we’re thrilled to see another world-class event hosted in Great Britain”, says King, “British Esports is proud to support the UK esports scene with our own Rocket League tournament running alongside the Major, providing a platform for aspiring players across the UK to showcase their talent. This collaboration underlines the strength of the UK’s esports ecosystem and British Esports’ ongoing commitment to creating opportunities for grassroots players to engage with professional esports athletes.”