ESL One Birmingham 2026 is set to take place alongside DreamHack Birmingham from March 22nd-29th at the NEC Birmingham, with 16 Dota 2 teams competing for $1m (~£753k) in prize money.

According to a release, the event will mark DreamHack Birmingham’s UK debut and will see the final eight teams play in front of a live crowd at the bp pulse LIVE arena from March 27th-29th. Tickets for the live stage started from £25, with entry also including access to DreamHack Birmingham’s wider festival activities.

The tournament is part of the ESL Pro Tour (EPT) for Dota 2, meaning teams will also compete for 35,460 EPT Points, which impact qualification routes for future events on the circuit.

Format and schedule

The competition’s group stage was scheduled to run from March 22nd-25th. Sixteen teams were split into two groups of eight and played a single round-robin, with each match contested as a two-game series.

The top two teams from each group advanced to the upper bracket of the playoffs, while the teams finishing third and fourth moved into the lower bracket. Teams placed fifth to eighth in each group were eliminated.

The main event then runs from March 27th-29th, using an eight-team double-elimination bracket. All playoff matches are best-of-three, aside from the Grand Final on March 29th, which will be a best-of-five.

The winning team will receive $250,000 in prize money, a $40,000 club reward and 8,000 EPT Points. In total, all 16 teams will earn a share of the event’s $1m (~£753k) prize pool and club rewards structure.

Which teams are attending ESL One Birmingham 2026?

According to the release, the 16 confirmed teams were:

• Team Yandex

• Team Spirit

• PARAVISION

• Xtreme Gaming

• OG

• Tundra Esports

• Team Falcons

• Virtus.Pro

• Nigma Galaxy

• MOUZ

• BetBoom Team

• Aurora Gaming

• REKONIX

• GamerLegion

• paiN Gaming

• Yakult Brothers

Several of those teams qualified through the EPT leaderboard, while others secured places through regional qualifiers and allocation slots.

Broadcast talent and fan activities

ESL also revealed the on-air talent lineup for the event. Desk host duties were set to be handled by Neal ‘Tsunami’ Khandheria and Jorien ‘Sheever’ van der Heijden, while Ted ‘PyrionFlax’ Forsyth and Jake ‘Slacks’ Kanner were named as sideline and stage hosts.

The broadcast lineup also included well-known Dota 2 commentators and analysts such as Austin ‘Cap’ Walsh, Avery ‘SVG’ Silverman, Owen ‘ODPixel’ Davies, Ioannis ‘Fogged’ Loucas, Gareth ‘Gareth’ Bateson and Dominik ‘Lacoste’ Stipić, alongside a wider remote talent roster.

Away from the server, ESL said the live event would include several on-site activities for attendees. These included a cosplay showcase on March 28th, airbrush tattoos, a balloon artist, a photobooth featuring printed in-game items and DHL-sponsored fan activations such as the DHL Golden Ticket and DHL Drop.

The release also noted that folk music group The Longest Johns would perform during the Grand Final ceremony.

How to watch ESL One Birmingham 2026

Fans were able to watch the event live on ESL Dota 2’s Twitch and YouTube channels, along with regional broadcast partners.

Those attending in person could buy either three-day or single-day tickets. According to the release, all ESL One Birmingham ticket holders also received access to DreamHack Birmingham, including its expo, cosplay, freeplay and quest activities.

That crossover is one of the more notable parts of this year’s event. Rather than operating as a standalone arena show, ESL One Birmingham 2026 has been folded into DreamHack’s festival format, giving Dota 2 fans a wider entertainment offering around the tournament itself.