StarCraft II Grand Finals eSports Event to Rock D.C. This Weekend

Red Bull Battle Grounds is coming to Washington D.C. this weekend for the Grand Finals eSports event for StarCraft II. Eight professional players will battle it out on September 20th and 21st at the Lincoln Theatre until one is crowned champion, receiving a share of the $50k prize pool. Viewers from all over the world will be able to tune in and watch the event through the live stream video embedded below or by going to battlegrounds.redbull.com.

It’s not only about the professional players this weekend as it’s also about you, the audience, as there will be a ‘Business of eSports’ panel hosted on Thursday night that will give those who are new to the scene a chance to learn more about the growing eSports experience. Beginning at 6:30pm EST on Thursday, September 18th, viewers can watch a live stream of the panel held at Georgetown University that will discuss eSports and the growing career opportunities available within the field. Viewers can watch the panel through the same embedded video below or link above.

Feature panelists include Sean ‘Day[9]’ Plott (eSports personality and game developer), Ben Goldhaber (Director of Content Marketing, Twitch.tv), Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau (veteran eSports journalist), Craig Levine (Vice President, ESL America), and Chris Radtke (Director of Content Strategy, Ziff Davis).

It should definitely be a great panel to watch for viewers to learn more about the popularity and business side of eSports. Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau mentioned that “eSports and the industry around competitive video gaming has grown leaps and bounds in just the last few years. From Twitch being sold for a billion dollars on the backbone of eSports, to Valve awarding $11 Million to the best Dota players in the world, the NYTimes featuring eSports on the cover of their historic Sunday paper, and Riot Games expected to sell out 45,000 seats in Korea’s World Cup stadium, there has never been a better time to seek insight into a world we all have loved since we were kids.”

Now on to the competitors of this Grand Finals event! Players have been competing for 5 months in a series of live and online events that led up to this moment. Below you will find the player roster with the event they won next to their name.

Invited Players:
• Won “PartinG” Lee Sak (Winner of last year’s Red Bull Battle Grounds New York City)
• Kim Yoo “sOs” Jin (Runner-up of last year’s Red Bull Battle Grounds New York City)

Qualified Players (and their Red Bull winning qualifier):
• Sasha “Scarlett” Hostyn (North America)
• Choi “Bomber” Ji Sung (Atlanta)
• Cho “Trap” Sung Ho (Wildcard)
• Park “DongRaeGu” Soo Ho (Global)
• Kim “Cure” Doh Wook (Online Open)
• Choi “Polt” Seong Hun (Detroit)

To add a little more style to the journey these players took in reaching this point, Red Bull eSports released a comic book that features all eight competitors spotlighting this weekend’s tournament. Definitely make sure to check it out by going to the following link: The Fateful Eight: The Road to Battle Grounds D.C.

For those who are like me and would like to gain further insight into the world of eSports, the Thursday night panel and weekend StarCraft II event should be a fantastic way to do so.

Watch live video from redbullesports on www.twitch.tv

Remember, live streams of both events can be found at battlegrounds.redbull.com or by watching the embedded video below. The Business of eSports panel begins Thursday, September 18th, at 6:30pm EST. The Red Bull Battle Grounds Grand Finals begins Saturday, September 20th, at 11:00am EST and continues Sunday, September 21st, at 11:00am EST.

Visit http://battlegrounds.redbull.com for additional details, rules and registration, and for more announcements from Red Bull eSports. Follow @redbullESPORTS on Twitter, #battlegrounds