What is the Equal eSports Cup?
The EEC is the largest League of Legends tournament for women and non-binary players in Europe. Our aim is to offer players a stage so that they can showcase their skills and draw attention to themselves.
The Equal eSports Cup took place for the first time in 2023. Over 24 teams from all over Europe took part in the tournament. Including almost all teams in the 1st Division of the Prime League. Five LEC organizations were also involved.
Any team with women and non-binary players could register for the Open Qualifier and the best 4 teams then qualified for the Closed Qualifier. In each of the 4 Closed Qualifiers, the 12 seeded teams competed against the 4 teams from the respective Open Qualifier to collect points. The top 4 teams with the highest score after all qualifiers traveled to Cologne to play the final at the Equal eSports Festival.
Significance for the esports community
The EEC is successfully helping to increase the participation of women and non-binary people in esports. The positive stories and achievements that emerged during the tournament led to existing stereotypes being broken and a broader understanding of diversity in the esports community being achieved.
The 1st Div Prime League organizations and LEC Orgs were made aware of the need for diversity and inclusion through the Equal eSports Cup. This led to a change in awareness, the effects of which we will see over the next few years.
The Cup also gave the players the opportunity to get to know each other and exchange ideas, creating a strong, mutually supportive community.
Who organizes the Equal eSports Cup?
The EEC was launched as part of the Equal eSports Initiative by Telekom, SK Gaming and the esports player foundation.
Riot supports the Equal Esports Cup as an official partner.
Who can take part in the Equal eSports Cup?
Any team, whether it is a professional team or a privately formed team, made up entirely of women and non-binary players, can register. People who are in transition to becoming women are also included.
How do I register myself / my team for the Open Qualifier?
All Open Qualifier teams must re-register for each qualifier, but do not have to re-verify. This gives teams the opportunity to join the third or fourth qualifier if players only come together to form a team over the course of the tournament.
We have decided on this procedure firstly to ensure that as many players as possible can take part and secondly to avoid no-shows.
During the Cup, links to the registration forms will be shared on social media and the EEC Discord.
How does verification work?
All participants must be verified once, including those of the invitational teams. In addition to the usual identification of persons, gender is also identified, as only women and non-binary people are permitted for the EEC. The topic of gender affiliation is – understandably – a very private and emotional matter for many people. This is why the feel-good factor during verification is very important to tournament organizers. All participants are checked by an external agency that specializes in this verification. The agency approaches all players with empathy and tact. We cannot provide any further information for verification purposes to avoid loopholes. All teams that register will of course be informed and the verification team has its own text channel on the Discord server where they can answer questions.
What can you win?
In 2023, there was prize money of 14,000 euros. For each Closed Qualifier, there was a total of 1000 euros for places 1-4.
The prize money for the final in Cologne amounted to 10,000 euros.
Where can I find all the information?
Official website: https://www.equal-esports.com
VODs 2023: https://www.twitch.tv/esportsplayerfoundation/videos
epf Twitter: https://twitter.com/EsportsPlayerF1