Raleigh, N.C. (March 19, 2025) – Premier esports destination Raleigh, N.C., is hosting three major esports tournaments this year with the help of the Greater Raleigh Esports Local Organizing Committee (GRELOC). The ESL One Raleigh 2025 esports tournament and the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) Raleigh Major are expected to attract tens of thousands of global fans to Raleigh while showcasing some of the best gamers worldwide.  

ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) will bring the ESL One Raleigh 2025 esports tournament to the Raleigh Convention Center in downtown Raleigh, April 7-13. The best Dota 2 players worldwide will compete for the $1 million prize pool. The 12 teams competing in ESL One Raleigh include four invited teams and eight who earned their spots through regional qualifiers hosted in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, the Middle East, North Africa (MENA), North America and South America. Unique local business activations will take place, including a custom beer collaboration with Trophy Brewing and late-night live streams from a local bar. For the first time, GRELOC has established a partnership between esports event producer EFG and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame Museum, where tangible and digital event elements will be contributed and curated for a future esports exhibit. Buy tickets here, or stream the competition live on Twitch and YouTube. 

Raleigh will also host the official Riot Games competitions — the 2025 College League of Legends Championship and 2025 College VALORANT Championship — on May 31 and June 1. Hosted at North Carolina State University's Gaming and Esports Lab located on Centennial Campus, the 2025 North American Collegiate Championships will be produced by GGTECH Entertainment, a technology and entertainment company based in Barcelona, Spain. The event will feature two of the most popular collegiate esports titles by Riot Games, League of Legends and VALORANT. 

This summer, BLAST will bring the annual Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) Raleigh Major esports tournament to the Lenovo Center, June 26-29. The top Rocket League players globally will compete over four days, with the final two days of competition open to the public. The tournament will consist of 16 teams (48 players) competing for a combined prize pool of $350,000. This will be the second major esports production that BLAST has hosted in Greater Raleigh. In November 2022, BLAST produced the Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS) Invitational for Epic Games at the Raleigh Convention Center. 

Greater Raleigh has emerged as a vibrant and thriving hub for the world of esports, in part thanks to the region’s numerous video game and technology companies, including leading game developer Epic Games, PC manufacturer Lenovo and open-source software company Red Hat. With the area’s passionate esports fan base, a thriving technology ecosystem, numerous esports-ready venues and hundreds of innovative companies headquartered in the region, Raleigh is a hub for gaming and innovation. Raleigh will also soon undergo an expansion of the available spaces and venues capable of hosting additional local, national and global esports events. 

“Greater Raleigh has emerged as a global hub for esports not just by hosting national and international events, but by encouraging and strengthening our local ecosystem of game publishers and local university esports programs,” says Loren Gold, executive vice president of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Raleigh) and GRELOC co-chair. “Hosting these major esports events allow us to continue showcasing Raleigh on a global stage to an audience of over three billion gamers while strengthening our community’s connection to the largest segment of the entertainment industry.” 

About the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance (GRSA): 
A division of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Raleigh) – the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance (GRSA) markets and promotes Raleigh and all of Wake County to generate and/or retain sports-related businesses (tournaments, championships, special events and meetings) for economic development. Raleigh, N.C./Wake County welcomes 18.5 million visitors annually, whose spending tops $3.2 billion. The visitor economy supports nearly 26,000 local jobs in Wake County and generates $307 million in state and local tax revenues, saving each Wake County household $712 in taxes annually. raleighsports.org 

About the Greater Raleigh Esports Local Organizing Committee (GRELOC): 
The Greater Raleigh Esports Local Organizing Committee (GRELOC) is made up of the City of Raleigh, Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Raleigh), the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and PLAYHRDR Advisors. With esports and gaming being strong fabrics of our local community for decades, the LOC is dedicated to attracting local and global competitive video gaming events to the Greater Raleigh area. In addition to promoting Raleigh’s many world-class, esports-ready facilities and modern infrastructure, the LOC is positioned to offer leagues, publishers, event organizers and communities that host their events in the Greater Raleigh area with operational, promotional and measured economic support. 

Media Contact: 
Visit Raleigh 
Dana Goodwin 
Public Relations and International Tourism Manager 
919.830.1289 
dgoodwin@visitRaleigh.com 

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