Raleigh, North Carolina, has been selected as a host city for a Dota 2 Major as part of ESL FACEIT Group’s competitive circuit for the game, ESL One, in April 2025. The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Raleigh) and the Greater Raleigh Esports Local Organizing Committee (GRELOC) jointly announced the news on Tuesday. ESL One Raleigh will be hosted at the Raleigh Convention Center in downtown Raleigh, from April 7-13, 2025.
“We are thrilled that Raleigh was selected to host ESL One’s 2025 global tournament,” said Loren Gold, executive vice president of Visit Raleigh. “Our continued efforts to elevate the destination’s world-class esports hosting capabilities is evident from being selected to host ESL One’s return to the United States after being held in Bangkok, the UK and Kuala Lumpur in recent years. It is a tremendous honor and a great source of pride for our area. We look forward to welcoming thousands of people from the global esports community, competitors and fans to Raleigh and showcasing our great destination to millions more globally through live stream broadcasts.”
Esports being showcased and supported in the state—and in Raleigh in particular—is due in no small part to the N.C. Esports Incentive Grant Fund, which was strongly supported by Jason Ray Saine, a former Republican member of the North Carolina House of Representatives (2011 to 2024) and incorporated into the state budget in 2021 by Governor Roy Cooper. The program helps entice tournament operators and other stakeholders to operate events in North Carolina through tax incentives and other benefits of doing business in the state.
“It has been a long time since we’ve hosted an ESL One event in the United States, and we’ve been looking for the right opportunity,” said Michael Van Driel, vice president, game ecosystems with ESL FACEIT Group. “We’re very excited to be back in the US and certain that Raleigh will be a world-class destination to welcome the Dota 2 community as we find our next ESL One Champion.”
The last major esports event in the city, the 2023 LCS Spring Finals, generated an estimated direct economic impact of $2.74M USD to Wake County and “directly supported 1,178 jobs in the process, according to statistics collected by Riot and the local tourism board.” According to that data, business services generated $46K; lodging, $464K; food & beverage, $501K; retail purchases, $532K; recreational activities, $548K; and transportation, $655K. Visit Raleigh and local officials hope that this event will see a similar financial boost through local tourism and increase spending at local businesses such as stores, restaurants, and hotels within the Raleigh area.
Featuring a $1M prize pool, ESL One Raleigh will showcase the best Dota 2 players from around the world as 12 of the best teams in the world (four directly invited and eight who qualify for the event through regional qualifiers) slug it out for a share of the prize pool and to be named the first ESL One Champion of 2025.
More details on this event as well as ticketing information can be found here.
ESL FACEIT Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Savvy Games Group—which in turn is owned by the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund and its Chairman of the board is Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler HRH Crown Prince MBS. EFG is home to tournament organizer ESL, Esports Engine, competition platform FACEIT, and esports and gaming festival company DreamHack.