Dublin, Ireland — 8 October 2026 — A record 710 third-level students across the island of Ireland took part in the 2025/26 Ireland Esports Collegiate Series (IECS), according to State of Esports in Ireland: Collegiate Edition, the first annual report published today by Ireland Esports Leagues (IEL) — released as the series prepares to begin the tenth season of the Collegiate Series on Monday 12 October.
The figure is up 15% year on year and 27% across the four seasons for which IEL holds comparable data — making this the most detailed multi-year evidence base on grassroots esports published in Ireland to date.
The report draws on four years of measured participation — not a one-off survey — across roughly 18 Ireland and Northern Ireland colleges and universities. Its central finding is that the series is not only reaching more students but engaging them more deeply: the average participant now plays across around 1.5 semesters and roughly 1.9 different titles, ratios that have risen every single year without exception.
The report opens with a foreword by Stuart Dempsey of GamerFest Dublin and the NEXUS Games Summit.
Other findings include:
A team game, overwhelmingly. 97% of participants competed in team-based titles.
A genuine on-ramp. Between 65% and 83% of each year's players were new to the series, and the share arriving with no prior competitive experience has grown.
Community over prizes, every year. 95% of participation is run through college societies, and students rank "improving" and "friendships" top and prizes last — consistently, across all four years.
Growing reach. The series' combined channel following has reached 6,268 (up 44% across three seasons), its community Discord has passed 2,000 members, and its directly addressable database has more than doubled, to 2,072 contacts.
Visible pathways. Former IECS participants have gone on to be selected for Ireland's Esports Nations Cup squads, an illustration of where sustained grassroots participation can lead.
Kurt Pittman, Founder & CEO, Ireland Esports League: "Four years of comparable data is rare in this space, and it lets us say something more useful than a single snapshot can. The headline is a record 710 students — but the part I'd point to is that depth has risen every year we've measured it. Students aren't just trying it once; they're coming back, across more titles and more of the year. That's a grassroots base that's both broadening and deepening at the same time — and a fitting place to be as we begin our tenth collegiate season."
Rónán Monaghan, Operations Lead, Ireland Esports League: "The operational story is the on-ramp. Most of each year's players are new, and a growing share are arriving with no competitive background at all. Building something that consistently brings new people in — and keeps them — across eighteen institutions is what we're most focused on, and it's where the tenth season's work is pointed."
Stuart Dempsey, GamerFest Dublin & NEXUS Games Summit (from the report foreword): "What Ireland Esports Leagues has developed in the collegiate space is the kind of consistent, measurable foundation that makes it easier for universities, brands and partners to engage with confidence. The evidence is now there. Season 10 feels like a natural moment to build on it."
The full report, including the year-on-year trends and the student-voice findings, is available at irelandesportsleagues.com/report.
A summary of headline findings is freely available; the full designed report and Insight Pack can be requested via the same page.
