MediaCity welcomes eChampions League esports tournament

Salford, UK. 19 May 2025. Showcasing the variety in the kinds of productions that it’s perfectly positioned to support with its unique facilities, MediaCity was thrilled to welcome EA Sports and its eChampions League esports tournament for multiple rounds which were held between 16-18th May.  

The tournament was hosted across dock10’s premium studios—HQ1, HQ2, HQ8, and HQ10—utilising over 30,000 square feet of state-of-the-art production space.  

These studios are fully interconnected through a robust, high-capacity network infrastructure, enabling seamless integration between live studio production and post-production environments.  

Supported by dock10’s expert in-house technology teams, the event benefited from cutting-edge workflows that ensured efficiency, reliability, and broadcast-quality output throughout. Beyond the technical delivery, the eChampions League also had access to ample, purpose-designed facilities to accommodate players, staff, and support teams—all set within the dynamic and inspiring surroundings of MediaCity  

Esports plays a significant role in today’s media landscape thanks to its engagement of huge audiences made up of an increasingly influential demographic. As esports have become important in the sports landscape, more tournament organisers than ever are turning to industry-leading facilities like MediaCity to host their productions.  

The demand for a tournament like the eChampions League – which is produced by Whisper who provide event and broadcast services for EA Sports – isn’t just for studio space and technical facilities to host a presenter-led sports entertainment show. Organisers also need facilities for their competition setups including sets, the games’ technical infrastructure, the streaming and/or broadcast workflows as well as player hospitality, rest areas and green rooms. It’s because of this that esports have a very specific set of demands for their venues which MediaCity was pleased to supply for EA Sports.  

“Our goal over the last few years has been to not only continue growing MediaCity as a destination for the best TV and broadcast productions but also partner with the broad variety of organisations across today’s media landscape like esports organisers or streaming producers. And working with the highly talented and experienced Whisper team on this eCL tournament has been an absolute pleasure” said Andy Waters, Head of Studios at dock10.  

With the 2025 season being the tournament’s sixth year, EA Sports’ eChampions League saw two days of high-octane EA Sports FC 25 esports action from 36 pro players.  

Representing real-world European football clubs following qualification by winning their respective esports leagues, each pro player competed in six games in the league phase before the top 24 progressed to the knockout phase.  

Played out in exhilarating form at MediaCity, eight players took the top spots of the weekend’s phases and will face off in the eChampions League final in Munich at the end of May, just three days before the UEFA Champions League final takes place in the same city.  

“MediaCity has long recognised the potential and opportunity for esports and the gaming sector and you can see that in the gaming facilities at HOST in MediaCity and the University of Salford’s Creative Digital Media & Gaming course which is hosted at MediaCity,” commented Martin Chown, Managing Director at MediaCity. “EA Sports bringing two rounds of the eChampions League to our media hub is a testament to the facilities offered here in Salford, and we’re looking forward to welcoming many more similar events through our doors.”