Games covered include League of Legends, Hearthstone and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

ESL competition is coming to Latin America with an all-new ESL Brasil Premier League, featuring BRL$80,000 in prize money across League of Legends, Hearthstone and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competition. The announcement was made today at Campus Party Brasil, a technology event that brings together thousands of people from across the region.

Two years ago, Intel® Extreme Masters brought competitive StarCraft and League of Legends action to Campus Party in Sao Paulo. Today’s announcement of the Brasilian National Championship aims to help cater to and expand that same local esports scene. “IEM Sao Paulo was a fantastic event,” remembers Shaun “Apollo” Clark, a commentator at the event. “The crowd in Brasil were fantastic and I met many esports enthusiasts – not to mention the local talent taking part in the competition. It’s a shame none made it out of the group stages, but tournaments like this National Championship are key to building up local scenes and helping ensure they become future tournament contenders.”

National Championships elsewhere in the world have garnered significant attention, with the ESL UK Premiership attracting two million unique viewers in 2015 and a steady audience growth of 167% from season one to two. The ESL Brasil National Championship will allow local teams to compete on a regular weekly basis, and the community an opportunity to enjoy ESL broadcasts natively in Brasilian-Portuguese.

“Our commitment to Brasil is just the beginning,” said Spike Laurie, Managing Director at ESL UK. “We’ve got a huge amount planned to promote esports engagement in the region and will be looking to build upon the ESL Brasil National Championship in the future. It’s an exciting market and the region holds much potential.”

Season one of the ESL Brasil National Championship is set to start in March, with season two kicking off in July. The National Championship will see its season finals played out at offline events, to be announced by ESL later in the year.