Could London Be European Capital of Esports?

London & Partners is committed to improving the UK capital's standing in esports.

05:59 12 December 2022

London & Partners, a business and tourism company focused on promoting London, wants the UK capital to become the European capital of esports by 2024. The firm, which is partly funded by the Greater London Authority, says that London is currently behind by other cities like Paris, Cologne, and Katowice, among others. 

Wayne Sullivan, London & Partners' head of major events and city experience, said:It’s quite interesting that we’ve stepped into this space. Essentially, we tell London’s stories. We are the business and tourism aspect of what happens in London, in terms of business growth. We are the destination agency for this city.

We aim to create economic growth, build and attract major events to the city which obviously grows the visitor economy, grows the London brand, and we work with partners to expand on that as well.

So we are a destination management company. We represent London on the international stage. With myself recently coming on board as the head of major events and city experience, I’ve taken on this remit which looks at esports – a whole pillar which looks at esports, digital and tech (EDT) opportunities for events. And the biggest part of that is esports by far.

There are some areas like Formula E which sit between live sports and this EDT pillar which uses new, sustainable technology within their events.

So I’m looking at how we grow that for the city, how London moves to the forefront. We are a tier one city, not with the reach or gravity you’d expect from a city on London’s scale. So it’s about turning that around, changing hearts and minds, building the education pieces, educating politicians and the powers that be, government, local government, the Mayor of London and our senior stakeholders here, as well as working with publishers and rights holders to say, ‘London is on board, we want these events here, how do we build them, let’s work together to build these partnerships’.