The British Esports Federation, the national body for esports in the UK, has launched a programme that will let community groups use its new British Arena venue in Sunderland to host their own events.
The federation will support four events each year by giving organisers access to the recently opened arena. The programme is open to UK esports organisations, tournament organisers and other groups. The first of the four annual slots has already been assigned to a special EPIC.LAN community event, which will take place in 2027. Further details on that event will be announced later.
The remaining three slots are open to applications. British Esports is asking groups to pitch their ideas and explain why their event should be chosen. Possible formats include a LAN tournament, a watch party, a community gathering, an awards show, or a launch event for an esports or video game project. The federation says ideas could focus on games that are growing in popularity, niche areas that need more recognition, or initiatives a group wants to run.
The federation has stated that interested organisations can apply by emailing its official address with a few paragraphs covering three points: the type of event they would like to run at the British Arena, why they want to run it, and how it would help the UK esports scene grow.
The announcement coincided with a panel at EPIC49, where British Esports and Ukie, the trade body for the UK games industry, discussed developments in esports at the national and Government level, and how the community can take part.
Dave Martin, Senior Vice President at British Esports, who joined the panel, said, “We’re so pleased to have finally opened our doors at the British Arena. We feel this is a great way to say to the UK esports communities that we’re here, we have this premises, and we want to help you. We’re looking for communities that have interesting gaming projects. So if you have an event you want to put on, we’d be delighted to help facilitate that. Please send in your pitches via the email below and we look forward to hearing from you.”
The British Arena is a 15,000 sq.ft venue in Sunderland, located opposite the Stadium of Light, home of Premier League football club AFC Sunderland. It is a multi-use space that can host esports events, live music, comedy nights, private bookings, broadcasts, games industry events, sports events, conferences and more. The federation has also promoted three existing staff members to Vice President positions to handle the key operations of the arena and manage the organisation’s growth.
