For the first season of the EMEA VCT league, the 10 partnered VALORANT teams competed from the recently constructed Coliseum inside the Messe Berlin Charlottenburg in Germany in front of ravenous fans. And while it may be a long time until it happens, the team behind the league wants to eventually take the show on the road.
In an interview with EMEA VALORANT lead Daniel Ringland in the midst of the ongoing EMEA LCQ, Dot Esports asked him about the potential of taking VCT regular season matches and hosting them where the team’s loyal fan bases could show up in waves. Ringland referenced the match between BBL Esports and FUT Esports in the final week of the regular season, in a battle between the league’s two Turkish teams.
“Both [teams] had individual watch parties in Istanbul, and a total of 6,000 fans turned up to watch them,” Ringland told Dot Esports. “And that’s without the players even being there, so I can only imagine that if we had FUT vs. BBL in a stadium in Istanbul, then there would have been way more than 6,000 fans and they would have been even more excited. So it’s something we would love to do.”
Taking special occasion regular season matches on the road isn’t a new concept to esports; both the Overwatch League and the Call of Duty League have historically held “homestands” and “home series” respectively, giving the local fans of a franchise the opportunity to see a big rivalry match in-person without having to travel far, although those were temporarily shelved in 2020 due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. But these events were pivotal in creating dedicated fans for each league via an unforgettable in-person experience.
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Other than the previously mentioned Turkish head-to-head match, Ringland also expressed interest in potentially holding matches in France or Spain, where regional rivalries like Karmine Corp vs. Gentle Mates and Giants vs. KOI would expectedly take center stage. But don’t start planning to take time off work just yet.
“It brings a lot of complexity and technical challenges that we would need to be mindful of, so I don’t think it’s something we’re likely to see anytime soon,” Ringland said. “But it would definitely be an aspiration for us to be able to take at least some games on the road, especially for those local derbies. That would be really cool.”
In the interview, Ringland acknowledged the technical issues and the number of pauses seen this year as an area where “no one was satisfied.” Taking the matches on the road to new venues would increase the chances of more tech issues, but Ringland is already expecting that aspect of the broadcast experience to be “much better next year.” If that is the case, then perhaps it raises the chances of VCT EMEA going on tour sooner rather than later.
