The FACEIT CS:GO Major finals are live on skysports.com at the sold-out SSE Arena in Wembley, with the best teams from around the world competing for the £380,000 first prize.
The quarter-finals are played over two days, with each match contested over a best-of-three series. Although esports' traditional strength lies in Asia, Counter-Strike is a game dominated by North American and European teams. The FACEIT Major is no different, with the final eight teams all hailing from those two continents.
The favourites are Astralis, who are based out of Denmark and boast an all-Danish roster of players. Their biggest victory to date came in January last year, when they won season two of the ELEAGUE Major.
British interest exists in the shape of Owen "Smooya" Butterfield, who is the sole non-German member of BIG (Berlin International Gaming), and also Rory "dephh" Jackson of compLexity Gaming.
BIG will be opening up the finals against Natus Vincene on Thursday at 3.15pm live on , as well as and pages.
This is the first time SportNews has ever broadcast competitive CS:GO, and reflects the profile of the prestigious FACEIT London Major. Sky will air the entire tournament live on skysports.com, and SportNews' YouTube and Facebook channels, from September 20 to 23. A highlights programme capturing the most exciting plays from the finals will also air after the event at 11pm on Sky Two.
The recent Challengers Stage of the FACEIT Major saw over 500,000 peak concurrent viewers tune in to see which teams would make it to London. Expect much the same as the tournament reaches its conclusion this weekend in London.
