Liverpool is one of the most famous names in world football. Now, it’s making its mark in the fast-growing but less well-known world of eSports.
In August 2024, Liverpool played host to the inaugural FIFAe ‘NEXTGEN’ tournament, bringing elite gamers from across the globe to compete in the city in the Fame Your Game Cup and The FIFAe World Cup of Football Manager. Hosted at Exhibition Centre Liverpool, the event was a resounding success and recently shortlisted at the Broadcast Sport Awards, with LCR Connect’s advanced digital infrastructure playing a key role in helping the region to embrace this new frontier in gaming and showcasing our region’s global potential.
Organising the first-ever multi-title FIFAe event presented significant technical challenges. The tournament required an ultra-reliable, high-bandwidth internet connection with exceptionally low latency.
“Our in-house IT team worked alongside ASP Group, FIFA’s technology provider, to make sure we could meet their requirements,” explained Nicky Norman, Head of Production and ICT Services at ACC Liverpool. “They had really low latency requirements—our IT team had to deploy new switches to ensure there was nothing between the fibre line and the event that could cause delays of any kind. In the end, working together across different teams, we were able to run the event with latency of 4 microseconds – just 4 millionths of a second.”
This ability to provide ultra-low latency connectivity at short notice was essential for the real-time responsiveness required by FIFAe’s gaming and streaming systems. According to Colm Graham, Head of Partnerships at ACC Liverpool, LCR Connect’s infrastructure was instrumental in winning the bid to host the event: “We were chosen as the first ever host for the next generation of eSports Games by FIFAe which is very special. They had a requirement for two separate dedicated gigabit lines—which made the existing LCR Connect fibre installation a major benefit.”
The FIFAe Next Gen tournament took place across the halls at the Exhibition Centre. Two halls hosted the quarter- and semi-finals, while the final was held in the main hall, which was transformed to resemble a professional football broadcast setup. “The setup was designed to replicate a real football broadcast, with an area reserved for managers’ Q&As and tournament draws, where the players would be asked about their tactics and set-ups,” explained Colm.
Behind the scenes, LCR Connect’s ability to scale bandwidth thanks to its XGS-PON technology was critical. As Colm described: “In the end, the requirement was for two 2GB independent lines. Adding the extra GB on each line was very simple, straightforward, and easy to do—it was managed almost on the spot by the team at ITS.”
The fast turnaround was made possible thanks to the two 10-gigabit bearer circuits which were originally installed at the Exhibition Centre for Eurovision in 2023. Claire Delahunty, North West Ambassador for ITS Technology, highlighted the benefits of this infrastructure: “The existing 10-gig bearer circuits meant there was no lag where engineers had to be called on site—all of the configuration could be managed remotely.”
One of the most critical elements of the event was its global audience. FIFAe was targeting thousands of live streams, with fans tuning in from across the world. This required not only robust internet speeds but also impeccable stability to prevent any disruptions during the live broadcasts. LCR Connect’s existing high-capacity network ensured that the event’s streaming needs were met without issue.
“The ability to stream and the LCR Connect connection was part of the initial attraction of our proposal to bring the event to Liverpool,” said Nicky Norman. “Because we knew we already had a connection in with ITS, we were able to quickly get in touch with our requirements. To change the capacity was a very simple installation and a really simple process.”
With the eyes of millions of viewers on the event, the stakes were high. But thanks to LCR Connect working hand in hand with the venue and client teams, the tournament’s live-streamed content was delivered flawlessly, positioning Liverpool as a leading destination for global eSports events.
Looking to the future, Liverpool’s investment in digital infrastructure through LCR Connect will continue to play a key role in the city’s ability to host world-class events. As Claire Delahunty of ITS put it: “The reason LCR Connect has been built is to future-proof economic growth and enable new things, exciting things, things we don’t even know yet. eSports and gaming are great examples of that type of application—so it’s great to see it already being successfully put to use.”
Nicky Norman echoed the sentiment, from her perspective as a leader in ICT: “It’s interesting to see bandwidth demand grow. Having the scalability that LCR Connect provides is great because even if it’s not something we would use every day—when we need it, we need it!”
If you are in any doubt about the future potential of eSports, it’s worth noting the winners of the tournaments. Thawatchai Noongam from Thailand walked away as the ‘Fame Your Game’ champion including a share of the $50,000 prize pot, while former England international John Terry presented Ichsan ‘Miracle’ Taufiq and
Manar ‘wednesday’ Hidayat from Indonesia with their World Champions trophy and a share of $100,000 prize pot in the Football Manager competition.
The prize could be just as great for places that are set up to host these types of events in future too. The success of the FIFAe Next Gen event highlights the growing importance of scalable, high-speed digital infrastructure for cities looking to attract international events – and the combination of world-class events spaces like the Liverpool Exhibition Centre and LCR Connect’s cutting-edge connectivity means we are well placed.
As Colm Graham summed up: “eSports is a consistently growing market—and so to partner with FIFA shows Liverpool has the connectivity and capability for these high-quality eSports events. We have additional spaces across the campus that can facilitate larger events in future too.”
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