Here is everything you need to know about T1 Homeground, the offline event held by the Korean esports team to elevate the esports fan experience.
T1 Home Ground returns to 2025 with a three-day event
T1 Home Ground is an offline event format organized by the team to immerse esports fans in an interactive experience, as they will be cheering and chanting for their favorite players. The format is akin to home matches seen in traditional sports, where most of the people watching will be fans of the hosting team. The peculiarity of the event is that the matches played will all be official matches from the esports calendar, meaning there will be high stakes on the line.
Earlier this year, it was confirmed that the 2025 T1 Home Ground will be taking place at the Inspire Arena in Incheon on July 25-27, featuring a total capacity of 15,000 people. The Inspire Arena was previously used to host the VALORANT Champions Seoul finals last year, and it’s known for being a friendly location to both Korean and international fans, as it is close to the Seoul Incheon Airport.
This marks a major upgrade from the arena used in the previous year, the Goyang Sono Arena in Goyang, which sold out 7,000 tickets. Moreover, the 2024 T1 Homeground event was only a one-day event, which featured the regular split series between T1 and KT Rolster in LCK 2024 Summer and the match between the two organizations’ Challenger teams. Last year, attending fans could purchase exclusive T1 Home Ground merchandise, as well as food and beverages made by T1’s chefs and staff from their own Cafe and Arena.
T1 Home Ground will have both League of Legends and VALORANT matches
This year T1 will be having both VALORANT and League of Legends teams playing at the Home Ground event, as confirmed by T1 CEO Joe Marsh: “We’re really excited about it. I think you’re looking at League on Friday and Sunday, and then VALORANT on Saturday, so [I’m] really excited about selling out that venue for three nights,” he shared previously in an interview in March. He also added that there might be integration of live music into the event.
While fans will know which team will be playing throughout the event, the exact schedule and teams are yet to be confirmed: “They haven’t been finalized just yet. The VALORANT side is a little different. We’re kind of waiting on the VCT, kind of see who will be afforded to us. Obviously, if I got to pick who I wanted to play for Valorant, Zeta Division would be a really great one. They have a huge fandom in the Pacific and I think they’ve been great to work with. We’ve done some stuff with them in the offseason. They’ll be my first kind of choice, just because that’s what they can bring. They can bring a lot of fans to the event. And then if I had to pick somebody else, [it’s] probably Paper Rex, who we’re playing tonight when this is being filmed. Third, our neighbours in the alley a couple of blocks away, Gen.G. [It] would always be nice to beat them,” Marsh added.
Esports organizations have been pushing to bring more official offline matches for their communities
Following T1’s home event, several other teams have been looking to bring esports matches offline, marking a strategic move to further foster and strengthen the fan bases as well as create more revenue opportunities for the organizations. The League of Legends EMEA region has brought two LEC Roadtrips on top of the Summer Finals this year, with Karmine Corp and Movistar KOI as the hosting teams in France and Spain, respectively.
The LCK has also been bringing more roadshows this season, with two offline matches at the start of May during the LCK Rounds 1-2: the Telecom Wars between T1 and KT Rolster, and the match between Gen.G and Dplus KIA. Both were held at the Suwon Convention Center in the Gyeonggi-do province.
T1 Home Ground Q&A
What is T1 Home Ground?
T1 Home Ground is an offline event organized by T1, allowing fans to cheer their favorite teams and players live.
Where and when will the 2025 T1 Home Ground take place?
The 2025 edition has been confirmed to take place at the Inspire Arena from July 25 to July 27.
Which matches will be featured at the T1 Home Ground?
The three-day event will feature League of Legends matches on Friday and Saturday, while VALORANT will be playing on Sunday. The match opponents are yet to be confirmed.
