League of Legends: Fnatic and Excel lead the way as the LEC drives UK esports forward (Pic: Riot Games)
Esports is in a strange bubble. On the one hand, its an industry set to surpass a value of $1billion (£763million) this year with millions of global fans yet if you did a random survey on the UK streets, youd struggle to find many people who had even heard of the phenomenon.
The UK has been slightly behind the curve in that respect but things are finally moving forward and the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) is a prime example of that with two British teams.
One of those teams is Fnatic who are competing in Rotterdam this weekend to be crowned European champions.
Fnatic was founded by Sam Mathews back in 2004 when he sold his car to fund tournament trips for his first team. Since then, Fnatic has become one of the most successful esports organisations in the world with titles across multiple games.
Mathews is former rugby player for Harlequins under-21s and the sport oddly has become further connected to esports. Excel, the other British team in the LEC, recently unveiled an impressive headquarters within Twickenham stadium.
The facility includes state of the art training areas for its team with access to sport psychologists and physiotherapists.
“The UK is a massive gaming market so it's about time that our esports side stepped up”
Kieran Holmes-Darby, Excel Managing Director
Excel epitomises the British underdog story. The organisation was formed in a pub by two brothers, Kieran and Joel Holmes-Darby, and grew from regional, British tournaments to one of the biggest esport leagues in the world.
Kieran is proud of their success but doesnt plan on leaving the UK behind:
“I think there was not only a lack of resources being donated to UK esports but a lack of respect for the scene too.
"We're just raising awareness that we have some awesome facilities and talented people here in the UK because traditionally the UK is a massive gaming market so it's about time that our esports side stepped up.”
Tasked with helping upgrade the local LoL esports presence is Riot Games Head of UK esports Mo Fadl who believes the UK has a unique appeal that will serve it well in the coming years:
"Everyone is fighting for time so in the UK we had to create an audience before we could build the esport. We've had to create a new kind of esport which focussed heavily on entertainment and offer this to the UK viewers.
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