Increasing the brand equity of ESL Gaming’s esports ecosystem, all ten iconic
ESL National Championships undergo an eye-catching brand refresh

Cologne/New York – The most premium local esports tournament series in its region, the ESL National Championship (NC), is set to receive a new state-of-the-art visual identity as ESL Gaming, a part of ESL FACEIT Group, is increasing the significance and brand equity of its industry leading local esports ecosystem worldwide.

Following the company’s master brand refresh in 2019 and the new, refreshed look of the Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) brand earlier this year, the time has now come for the NC to follow in their footsteps and to receive an updated and matching identity. Ultimately, the main idea behind sharing a common visual style is to increase equality within the brand, highlight the company’s values, and support the strategy to continue leading the esports industry. 

The ESL National Championship is one of the longest-running local esports competitions and all local tournaments share the common element of being their region’s most premium competition for amateurs, semi-professionals, and professionals. The first ever NC started in Germany in 2002 as ESL Pro Series, which was renamed to the ESL Meisterschaft in 2015. At this point in time, the competition series is hosted in ten different regions – Australia, the Benelux, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom – marking a new era for local players aspiring to take their competitive play to the next level. 

All ten NCs host tournaments in several game titles and feature unique competitions relevant in their respective region. With Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) being one of the most played titles in the NC, the story of Movistar Riders is the textbook example of the huge opportunity offered by the NC for local teams to advance in their careers. Starting as ESL Masters Spain 2021 champions, the Spanish squad continued their journey to the top, beating some of the world’s best teams along the way, and making it all the way to one of the most prestigious live esports stages as they qualified for the IEM Cologne 2022 semi-finals.

The ESL Premiership has been around since 2015 and is the longest standing national league in the UK & Ireland. James Dean, Director UK Strategy and Commercial said: “For many years now, the Premiership has been a proving ground for both players & talents to cut their teeth before heading onto the global stages – the ESL Premiership truly encapsulates the “zero to hero” journey. The player ‘Smooya’ is a perfect example of this – after his team Epsilon placed first in the ESL Premiership Spring 2018, he transferred onto the global CS:GO team ‘BIG’ and went on to place second with them at ESL One Cologne 2018. The national platform of the ESL Premiership was key in making Smooya’s dream a reality, and we hope to make many more dreams come true in the future!” With the new visual identity, we aim to strengthen the connection between the different levels of competition in our esports ecosystems.

For the most part, the new ESL National Championship visual identity refresh consists of the updated logo and a dedicated camouflage pattern. New graphic elements allow the ENC to be more coherent with the ESL Gaming brand, leaving enough space for each region to adjust the design to their local symbols. This creates a perfect fusion between autonomy within the local competition’s visual identity and enhancement of the brand equity of ESL Gaming.

Head to https://pro.eslgaming.com/uk/ to learn more about the Premiership including games, tournament schedules & teams competing. For all the action follow ESL UK on Twitter @ESLUK , Facebook @ESLUK, Instagram @esl.uk , and LinkedIn @esluk.

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About ESL Gaming

ESL Gaming is the world’s leading esports company. For more than two decades, we have been shaping the industry and leading esports and gaming innovation globally across the most popular video games, creating a comprehensive ecosystem with opportunities for players to go from zero to hero, and for fans to witness the best stories esports has to offer. Our portfolio consists of high-profile products such as the ESL Pro Tour, Intel® Extreme Masters, DreamHack Festivals, the Snapdragon® Pro Series, and many more, ranging from grassroots to global elite competitions. ESL Gaming is a part of the world’s leading competitive gaming platform ESL FACEIT Group.