Gaming peripherals brand HyperX has entered a sponsorship deal with Russian esports organisation Virtus.pro.

The partnership is expected to involve a campaign featuring special events, gift giveaways, and reviews of HyperX products by Virtus.pro players.

Commenting on the partnership HyperX CIS Head of Esport, Oleg Bulavko, said:

“HyperX has always supported the best esports talents and clubs. The healthy development of international esports is crucial for us. Virtus.pro is one of the few esports clubs known and respected from Vladivostok to New York. The Bears’ victories inspire hundreds of thousands all over the world.

“March 2020 marks the beginning of our partnership. We wish the players, the management and the fans to conquer new heights in the upcoming season, including, of course, all the World Championships. Welcome to #HyperXFamily!”

While Virtus.pro General Manager, Sergey Glamazda, added:

“HyperX is one of the indisputable leaders on the market of gaming accessories appraised by esports athletes all over the world. We’re excited to see our plans together become reality. Our fans – expect tons of interesting events and new content!”

HyperX, a subsidiary of Kingston Technology, also has commercial partnerships in place with Chiefs Esports Club, Entity Gaming, Excel Esports, LGD Gaming, and Team Liquid. While Virtus.pro has deals in place with Parimatch, Mr. Cat, Tornado Energy, and Fragstore.

AYO.NEWS says:

HyperX is clearly aiming to increase its visibility internationally, with Virtus.pro giving it extra exposure in CIS markets, and the Chiefs Esports Club boosting the brand in Oceania.

Unfortunately for Virtus.pro their next scheduled big tournament, the Apex Legends Major 1 in Texas, has already fallen victim to the worsening COVID-19 virus crisis, with EA announcing the event, originally scheduled for 13-15 March, has been postponed.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

EA will be postponing or cancelling upcoming esports events for the Apex Legends Global Series and the EA SPORTS FIFA 20 Global Series, due to the worsening COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis.

The Major 1 Apex Legends Global Series originally scheduled for 13-15 March in Arlington, Texas, has been postponed. The Apex Legends Global Series Online Tournament #2 set for 21-23 March will still go ahead with participants playing from home.

The FIFA 20 CONMEBOL eLibertadores Online and Live Event originally scheduled for 7-8 March was also postponed, though the eChampions League online qualifiers on 14-15 March will go ahead as planned. However, the PlayStation Licensed Qualifying Event and the FUT Champions Cup Stage V in Bucharest have both been axed.

EA have said the health of the esports community is absolute priority, and they will strive to provide new dates for postponed events as soon as possible.

AYO.NEWS says:

With the COVID-19 emergency escalating quicker than anyone expected in Europe, many countries introducing bans on live events and large gatherings, transport issues, and Italy even shutting down the entire country (something likely to be seen elsewhere in the coming weeks), we can expect many more events to be cancelled and postponed.

Earlier today we reported that, following the unprecedented lockdown of Italy, Malta, Europe’s iGaming and blockchain hub, suspended all travel to and from Italy. Reports also suggest Austria has now closed its border with Italy, and the outbreak continues to escalate in other European countries, especially, Spain, France, Germany and the UK.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Telia Finland has secured Finnish media rights for ESL and DreamHack’s CS:GO events as part of the ESL Pro Tour.

The company will start broadcasting the ESL Pro Tour, which covers more than 20 tournaments and leagues on 5 continents, later this month. Featuring 13 partner and 11 non-partner teams, ESL Pro League Season 11 stars on 16^th March, and finish in Denver on 10-12^th April.

DreamHack and ESL Finnish-language broadcasts will be available on MTV, C More, Telia TV and Twitch.

Commenting on the agreement Chief Commercial Officer at ESL, Thomas Schmidt, said:

“We look forward to working with Telia on great coverage for ESL and DreamHack events and the entire ESL Pro Tour with a strong Finnish angle. Together with Telia we will ensure the world’s best esports action is easily accessible and available for the Finnish esports community via the content services of Telia while also catering to a wider mainstream audience.”

While Commercial Manager – Esports at Telia Finland, Niklas Segercrantz, added:

“We are now opening the world of esports to absolutely everyone. With Telia Esports Series, we want to enable players to rise to the top and, with the DreamHack and ESL broadcasting rights, also show what professional gaming is these days and how big of a phenomenon it really is about on the global scale.”

ESL has also agreed regional broadcast deals with TV2 Denmark, Blake Broadcasting (US, Canada, and Asia (excl. China)), Maincast (CIS), and ProSiebenSat.1 (DACH).

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s a bit of a late deal, but still shows the increasing level of interest in esports among major broadcasters, and will no-doubt be welcomed by the Finnish-speaking community. Of course, its also going to help ESL monetise its events – something that is becoming ever more pressing.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Danish esports organisation Team Singularity has partnered with Swedish energy drink brand NOCCO (No Carbs Company).

NOCCO makes sugar-free energy drinks marketed as optimising focus, so the brand has an obvious appeal to esports athletes and video gamers.

Talking about the partnership CEO of Team Singularity, Atle Stehouwer, said:

“Part of our success is due to payoff from hard work, strong team spirit and solid increase in mental and physical preparations.

“Being one of the leading talent incubators in esports, naturally we have big focus on both collective and individual performance besides player and management development. A vital part of our results is our focus on both physical and mental preparation, which our partnership with NOCCO confirms. They bring the necessary focus and endurance our players need.”

While CEO at NOCCO Denmark, Mathias Kronstrand, stressed the importance of “physical nutrition in both sports and esports performance, and revealed that the company’s own group of “top athletes” would be getting involved with Team Singularity.

AYO.NEWS says:

Its almost a given that major esports organisations have to have an energy drink partnership these days, but this one does stand out as being a little more health conscious. It will be interesting to see what collaborations NOCCO has in mind in terms of other athletes getting involved with esports.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

These days, it seems like every online sportsbook and casino operator is waking up to the sheer potential of the esports betting market. Why then, are even the most well-resourced traditional operators finding it so hard to take market share from the smaller, but more specialised esports operators?

To find out we talked with Paul Brel, Head of Communications at Livestream, the company operating dedicated esports bookmaker LOOT.BET.

What is the most noticeable difference between esports bettors and traditional sports punters?

The most obvious difference is definitely age. The vast majority of esports bettors are currently aged 18-25, whereas the typical traditional online sports bettor is more likely to be in the 30-35 year age range. This means we’re largely dealing with generations Z and Y-Z for esports, and generations X-Y and Y in for traditional sports betting. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions to this rule – it’s just an overall trend.

By the way, I should note that, when talking about esports bettors, we’re not just basing things on research, but also the fact that many of us here at LOOT.BET are passionate esports bettors ourselves. I guess we should really refer to esports bettors as ‘we’ during our conversation. 

How does this age difference translate into other areas – for example lifestyles and occupations of esports bettors compared to traditional sports punters?

Because of the age trends, it’s no surprise the average esports bettor tends to be either a student, which is especially true for Eastern Europe, CIS and Southeast Asia, or a young professional which is more typical for Western Europe. Meanwhile, we’ve found the occupations of traditional online sports bettors cover a wider field, ranging from professionals and mid-level managers to manual labourers or service workers. Also, esports bettors tend to have a higher level of education. Again, this is just a broad trend, and of course there are many exceptions to this.

Another consequence of the age difference is that esports bettors, being younger and at earlier career stages, tend to be earning less than older traditional sports punters. This could explain why the average bet size in esports is smaller, and esports bettors are keener to take advantage of bonuses and promotions. However, again, due to his or her education and profession, an esports bettor’s income is likely to exceed that of a traditional sports bettor in the future, as his or her career matures.

Image courtesy of Livestream

So, is it safe to assume this also means the average esports bettor is more tech savvy and switched on to trends than the average sports bettor?

We believe so. The average esports bettor is unmarried and has no kids, while the average sports bettor is likely to be married and have children. It’s probably safe to extrapolate that the average esports bettor has more time for keeping up with the latest tech and trends.

Also, it should be remembered that, given the younger age, esports bettors like us have grown up in a much more digital era than most traditional sports bettors. As a part of generations Z and Y-Z, we’ve never known life without broadband internet, smartphones and multiplayer gaming. Technology is an integral part of our lives and permeates every aspect of our lifestyles.

This isn’t to say that sports bettors aren’t using technology – it’s just indicating there’s a different relationship to it. Sports bettors are much more likely to use a mix of desktop and mobile devices than esports bettors.

What does this mean for gambling advertising?

Esports bettors are, on average, much less susceptible to standard advertising approaches and methods. We have very strong ‘banner blindness’, and are normally using adblock programs anyway. This contrasts very much with traditional online sports bettors, who are more likely to be receptive to normal advertising.

When it comes to more traditional marketing channels, like broadcast TV, radio and print media, they have basically zero effect on esports bettors – mainly because esports bettors are very unlikely to even be exposed to them. In contrast, the most effective advertising formats to reach esports bettors are native ones, such as online videos.

But, even then, for an advertisement to be effective, it’s absolutely crucial to speak esports bettors’ language – as in using slang and memes. Also, if you want your advertising to be effective on us, it has to be truly creative, sincere and unobtrusive, and compatible with our ‘clip thinking’.

Is it fair to suggest that esports bettors actually have a fundamentally different way of thinking about gambling as a whole?

Absolutely. It seems that generations Z or Y-Z, are more self-confident and like to emphasise reliance on knowledge and skills rather than luck. Like modern youth in general, esports bettors have very little interest in traditional gambling compared to older generations.

Illustrating this, our research showed that only 3% of esports bettors gamble at online casinos regularly, and just 20% occasionally. In fact, 77% said they never even considered this kind of gambling.

Going further, can we conclude that esports bettors are driven by different motives than traditional sports bettors?

To a large extent, yes. Though both esports and sports bettors are primarily shown to bet for fun, and the buzz of emotions it delivers, there is clear evidence that esports bettors are less concerned about viewing betting as a source of profit. This, coupled with the younger average age, explains why there are so many fewer professional and arbitrage bettors in esports.

Looking more closely, it’s striking that the vast majority of esports bettors are active players in the games they bet on – something that, to my mind, can’t be said for traditional sports bettors. Obviously, this means esports bettors know more about what they are betting on, and are less likely to be betting on an unfamiliar discipline guided only by statistics and news.

As a rule, we can say that esports bettors tend to be more immersed in esports than sports bettors are in sports. In addition to most esports bettors actually playing the games they bet on, this also manifests itself in following industry news – our research shows 96% do so – and being heavily engaged in online and offline communities.

Image courtesy of Livestream

Maybe to illustrate this, you could give us a glimpse of a typical day in the life of an esports bettor, compared to a traditional sports bettor?

Sure, good idea! So, let’s say I’m an average esports bettor, and a typical day for me may look something like this:

• I check bets and match results as I wake-up – literally, I grab my phone as I’m still in bed.
• Eating breakfast and on the way to work or college, I’m catching up with the latest esports news and checking niche forums (like those on HLTV and Dotabuff), dedicated social media groups, betting channels on Telegram etc.
• After work or study, I’m placing new bets on upcoming events, playing video games, either esports or single player, and watching esports streams – all while chatting on my favourite forum or social media.
• To relax and wind down, I watch a couple of episodes on Netflix (probably science-fiction or fantasy), or trending videos from vloggers (e.g. Markiplier, PewDiePie, jacksepticeye etc.).

While a typical day for a traditional sports bettor would probably look more like this:

• Checks bets and match results as waking up.
• Reads sports and socio-political news at breakfast and on the way to work.
• After work, they come home, spend time with family, do household chores, and maybe head to the pub for drinks with friends.
• In the evening, if there’s a decent match on, they will likely place new bets, and watch it on TV or online. If there isn’t a big match, they will probably watch TV or a movie (more varied genres), or videos from vloggers covering DIY, travel, lifestyle etc.

As we can see, esports bettors are much more focused on their niche interests and more involved with the community, whereas traditional sports bettors have more domestic and offline social distractions, and are more passive in their consumption of information.  

An issue we hear quite a lot about these days is diversity in esports, with things like GIRLGAMER highlighting the increasing involvement of women in esports. What does esports betting look like in terms of diversity?

Right now esports betting is still very much a male-dominated arena. LOOT.BET’s clients are split somewhere in the region of 94% male and 6% female. This gels with the traditional prevalence of males in the world of video gaming, and actually shows less diversity than the traditional sports betting world, where we estimate the percentage of female bettors to be significantly bigger at around 10-15%. However, the world of esports and esports betting is evolving much more rapidly than traditional sports betting, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see the balance shift dramatically in a relatively short space of time.

Does this different outlook and lifestyle affect attitudes towards other types of betting, say for example traditional land-based casinos and retail betting?

Very few esports bettors would ever consider gambling at land-based casinos or offline retail venues. Esports bettors like us very much inhabit an online world. We also very much value the clear, concise user interfaces that are normal to our high-tech world – with the comparatively high-friction land-based experience failing to appeal. The most savvy offline casino operators have already started looking into online esports betting, a good example is Malta-based Eden Leisure Group.

Image courtesy of Livestream

All-in-all, it looks like traditional online sports betting and casino operators have their work cut out to try and capture any meaningful share of the esports betting market, while specialist esports bookmakers, like LOOT.BET, have a massive advantage because of their nuanced understanding of the market. Is this a fair statement?

Basically, yes. Our research and own experience tells us that, for an esports bettor, esports is a whole lifestyle and way of thinking. We are playing esports titles, socialising (predominantly online) with other esports fans, and watching a lot of streams. Because esports titles are often games with entire worlds, ecospheres, and communities, in their own rights, the experience is utterly immersive, with esports fans and bettors alike very likely interested and involved in cosplay and purchasing merchandise and collectibles.

The relationship between video gaming and esports, and other entertainment is increasingly intertwined – especially in terms of music and movies. It all adds up to an all-encompassing lifestyle, in which generations Z and Y-Z take video games extremely seriously, and really don’t separate the real and virtual worlds.

This translates to esports bettors appreciating interactivity, gamification and technical advancement much more than traditional esports bettors do. It also encourages a much more active and emotional community, with esports bettors naturally chatting with other spectators directly on streams – again, in the ‘language’ of esports slang.

Despite traditional online sportsbooks and casinos trying to embrace some of these elements over the past few years, so far none of them have got anywhere close to really connecting with the esports betting market on a meaningful level. This is where specialist esports bookmakers, with their innate understanding of the video gaming and esports culture, are not just maintaining, but building their lead. 

It’s a massive ‘thank you’ to Paul for taking his time to share his insights with us here at AYO.NEWS. We’re sure you’ll agree, it’s an interesting time for both esports and the betting industry in general right now.

Will any of the major traditional bookies manage to get their act together on esports, or are they too stuck in their ways to really grasp how different the world of esports is? Does the future belong to the nimbler, more nuanced specialist esports bookies, who’ve been fully immersed in esports culture since day one, or they all are destined to be bought out by betting hypermarkets before they get really big? Time will tell.

Don’t forget to check out LOOT.BET’s 2019 ratings, for a fascinating snapshot of the year, including the luckiest and most active esports betting countries. 

Paul Brel, Head of Communications at Livestream, the company operating dedicated esports bookmaker LOOT.BET. Image courtesy of Livestream

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Twitter and the US Army are sponsoring the inaugural season of Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty League.

Both sponsorships went live during the League’s Los Angeles home series event at the Shrine Expo Hall at the weekend.

Twitter’s three-year partnership is global, and aims to push the social media platform as the “source for Call of Duty League highlights and community engagement.” The CoD League will also be making the most of Twitter’s conversation functions, with all teams having their own hashtag emojis.

Meanwhile, the US Army’s one-year deal will aim to activate at multiple levels across the Call of Duty League and Call of Duty Challengers. The ‘Tactical Play’ broadcast segment, which reviews key match highlights, will be presented by the Army, and the service will also offer interactive ‘walk-up and play’ experiences at events.

Additionally, the army will presenting sponsor of a collegiate competition, ‘Call of Duty Collegiate.’ Open to students across the United States and Canada, it will be operated on Major League Gaming’s GameBattles platform, and run by Tespa.

Discussing the news Global Head of Gaming Content Partnerships at Twitter, Rishi Chadha, said:

“The Call of Duty community has been one of the largest gaming communities on Twitter, and we are thrilled to be partnering with Activision Blizzard to continue to support this vibrant community.

“In 2019 alone, Call of Duty Esports had 3 of the Top 10 most talked about esports events in the world, and this long-term partnership shows our commitment to the continued success of Call of Duty Esports.”

While Head of Global Partnerships at Activision Blizzard Esports, Josh Cella, added:

“We have seen excitement for the new Call of Duty League grow since the season kicked off in January 2020, and we couldn’t be prouder to announce additional partners for the future vision of Call of Duty esports.

“Each of these brands will help deliver fresh content and experiences to our global audience as the best players in the world compete to win the first Call of Duty League Championship.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Just like the US Air Force, US Navy and US Marines, the US Army is investing in esports in a big way, realising it is a golden opportunity to recruit bright, switched-on, young people with good reflexes and excellent situational awareness.

Staying with the military and esports, just last week we reported that Wargaming, the developer of World of Warships, has partnered with non-profit organisation Stack Up to support military veterans and active service members.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.