Esports promoter ESL announced 25 million unique worldwide viewers "tuned in for the first Dota 2 Major of the season:" ESL One Hamburg. Europe’s largest event dedicated to the Valve MOBA saw an "impressive" 250% viewership growth in comparison to last year’s ESL Frankfurt, accumulating 7 million hours of content consumed. The $1M prize pool tournament attracted a reported 10,000 fans each day to the Barclaycard Arena. ESL also reported 8 million social media users were engaged with the event (ESPORTS OBSERVER, 11/14).
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The World Baseball Softball Confederation announced the launch of the first official five-on-five street baseball competition, the WBSC Baseball5 Championships, which will take place from Nov. 23-24 in Havana, Cuba. The WBSC also revealed the new logo that will mark the identity of the new urban discipline, along with the hashtag #PlayEverywhere (WBSC).
Rugby union's British & Irish Cup will be scrapped at the end of the season. It comes after the 12 Championship rugby clubs decided to withdraw for '18-19. Scottish sides pulled out of the event in '14 and Championship teams "tend to rest their best players in the cup" (BBC, 11/15).
The Australian Football League is "moving closer to kicking off AFLX with games in three states over three consecutive nights in the middle of February." The exact times and venue details are yet to be finalized but the "innovative new concept" will be played a week before the Community Series begins on Feb. 24. The AFL is understood to be exploring the idea of holding AFLX in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney (THE AGE, 11/15).
