Esports is a relatively new phenomenon in its current iteration. It's been around for a couple of decades as a whole, but didn't hit its stride until the FPS wars in Quake and Unreal tournament kicked things up a notch. Even then though, it took until the invention of the MOBA for the world at large to finally start to come onboard and it's doing so in droves now. So much so, that Esports bars have been created and they're doing really, really well.
While not a dedicated Esports location, one bar in Kentish Town, in West London, was taken over a couple of weeks ago by DotA 2 fans, who piled in (as many as 100 showed up) to drink copiously and scream at the TV screens - most of which were showing the DotA 2 International 3's qualifying matches.
The organisers, DotA community members Pyrion Flax and CyborgMatt, were very pleased with the event, considering this one drew almost double what they had at the last pub stomp. Clearly the strictly enforced rules haven't turned anyone away.
The pub's landlady, was also rather pleased with the takings. She said (via PCGamesN): "We didn’t think it would be as busy as it was. It resulted in one of our highest takings on a Sunday ever." said Lois. "We regularly hold Starcraft 2 events and they’re always such nice people."
"If we were to hold another Dota 2 event we would definitely look to get some more room in the pub and probably a lot more beer while we’re at it."
Would any of you go to an Esports Pubstomp?