*Update 03/09/2024: SuperDome Tournament Funding Accounted For as Local Authority Celebrates Esports’ Impact on Visitor Economy*

An esports tournament has quietly disappeared from the calendar after reportedly claiming £250,000 of public funding from a United Kingdom local authority. The SuperDome esports tournament, which was scheduled to take place at the Resorts World Arena, Solihull, between Sep. 5 and Sep. 8, has disappeared from all calendars, after seemingly being canceled. 

In January, the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) announced that £3 million of Commonwealth Games legacy funding, money reportedly left over from the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK, had been shared with numerous events. 

£250,000 (Approx. $330,000) of these funds were stated to have been given to the SuperDome esports tournament, which was expected to take place in Solihull, UK, in September. However, the event has now vanished. The money, according to the WMCA had already been “shared” with the event.

The Commonwealth Games legacy funding was set up to “help bring hundreds of thousands of people together in the region” in what was called an “estimated £11.5 million boost to the local economy.”

“Almost 700,000 competitors, performers and spectators are expected to attend the events in 2024 and 2025 to celebrate the region’s rich and diverse sporting, music and cultural heritage” said the WMCA, describing events including the SuperDome esports tournament.

This money had reportedly already been shared, and received, by events such as the ESL One Birmingham Dota 2 event in April, as well as non-esports events such as the European Judo Union Junior Cup in Walsall, and the Godiva Festival in Coventry. 

In 2023, the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) Year 3 Championship also received an undisclosed amount of money as part of the Commonwealth Games legacy funding. This was separate to the £3 million allocated in January in 2024.

Now, a third esports event, the SuperDome esports tournament, which was set to be funded by the same source, appears to have completely disappeared from the calendar.

This tournament was seemingly tied to the Superdome VALORANT events hosted between 2022-2024 by Egyptian esports company BME eSports. These events stated they were affiliated with Riot Games and the Egypt Esports Federation, and were additionally sponsored by Pringles, Intel, and several others organizations.

Following the finals of Superdome 2023, which took place in January 2024, the latest Superdome event was scheduled to take place in the United Kingdom. Now the event has vanished from the schedule of the Resorts World Arena, which was allegedly hosting it.

It was also understood by some that the SuperDome esports tournament would be part of the now-defunct Insomnia Gaming Festival. Insomnia I73, scheduled for September, was cancelled in June amid a series of financial troubles.

Insomnia organizers Player1 Events Ltd (later renamed as Supernova Events and Esports Limited) entered a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), effectively a way of liquidating assets while renegotiating debts and maintaining operation of a limited company. It’s unconfirmed what connection Insomnia had with SuperDome’s organizers. 

Esports.net has reached out to Riot Games, BME eSports, the Resorts World Arena, the WMCA for more information.