Even with what’s happening around the world, 2020 is set to have some tremendous eSports events, even if that means date postponements or even tournaments without any stadium spectators.
For people who enjoy sports betting, it does suck that pretty much no traditional sporting events are taking place – although the idea of a “UFC Island” was pretty hilarious. Fortunately, you can still get some bets in on some of the top eSports competitions that will take place this year.
So in this article, we’re going to highlight the most hotly anticipated eSports events to take place in 2020.
League of Legends World Championship
League of Legends is the largest MOBA in the world with an estimated 8 million peak players per day in 2020, and set the record at the 2019 World Championship Finals for most Average Minute Audience (AMA) at 21.8 million.
The 2020 tournament will be hosted by Riot Games in China, and it’s expected that 24 teams from 14 countries around the globe will participate. It should be hosted in October and November to determine the last team standing, with a minimum prize pool of $2.5 million USD – which can be significantly increased as time goes on, as Riot Games will add a percentage of in-game sales to the final prize pool leading up to the event.
Intel World Open
This massive event hosted by Intel is set to take place directly before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, and will be the first legitimate attempt at coinciding an eSports event with the Olympics. It was set to take place from June 22 – 24, but has unfortunately been postponed due to current global events. However, it’s a strong possibility that it will be rescheduled for 2021 instead, which kind of just adds to the overall anticipation and excitement.
The event will be modeled after the traditional Olympic games format, featuring qualifiers that decide best-of-four players to form national teams and move on to the final games. Since it’s taking place in Tokyo, a great place to get a piece of the betting action is over at Casumo (カスモ) online casino in Japan.
Fortnite World Cup
As one of the most popular games around the world, the Fortnite World Cup is definitely one of the most anticipated championships for 2020. The 2019 tournament had a massive $100 million prize pool, and all players no matter their position are guaranteed at least $50,000.
Fortnite’s developer Epic Games leads the event organization, and entry is entirely merit based, meaning that all participants got there on pure skill. The best of the best, if you will.
No final date or prize money has been announced, but it’s reasonable to expect it to happen sometime in the summer, around July.
The International
This annual world championship for DOTA 2 has been hosted since 2011, and can still draw a crowd like no other. The 2019 tournament had a total prize pool of $34 million USD, with the winners taking home $15 million.
Despite being officially released in 2013, DOTA 2 remains one of the most popular competitive games today, almost never falling below the top 5 viewed games on Twitch.
The International is organized by Valve, with the final prize pool being funded by a percentage of Battle Pass subscriptions. The event should be hosted between August 18 – 23rd of this year.
BlizzCon 2020
A massive event hosted by Blizzard Entertainment that dates all the way back to 2005, BlizzCon features a handful of games exclusively by Blizzard, making it one of the few major eSports competitions that doesn’t revolve around a single title.
Games featured at BlizzCon 2020 will likely be Overwatch, Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and others. Right now it’s actually a possibility that Blizzcon 2020 could be cancelled, but Blizzard is closely monitoring the situation.
Capcom Cup
The Capcom Cup is a 40 player tournament which requires that competitors place in smaller events leading up to the finals. It consists of 16 players from the global ranking leaderboards, and 22 players from the World Warriors Challenge. This year will revolve around Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, released in February 2020, giving competitors only a few weeks to get used to all the new game mechanics brought to the Street Fighter franchise.
Due to global events, Capcom has been cutting out parts of the overall tour. Four tournaments were cut from the Pro Tour 2020, one of the stepping stones to qualifying for the Capcom Cup finals. It would be wise to follow Capcom’s Pro Tour schedule and any announced changes if you want to follow this eSports event.
Overwatch World Cup
Aside from Blizzcon 2020, Blizzard Entertainment also operates this annual eSports tournament exclusively for Overwatch. While Overwatch’s player base has been dwindling in recent times, it’s still a popular game with hundreds of thousands of players worldwide.
The tournament is open globally to teams from any country, but only five teams will advance to the final stages. The event is annually held in November, so it’s unlikely the finals schedule will be affected by what is currently happening, but the preliminary events could see some date shuffling.
