Learfield IMG College and Electronic Arts (EA) have announced Level Next – the largest-ever collegiate esports league.

The intercollegiate athletics media and technology services company has teamed up with the video game giant to launch the new multi-year, multi-season league, which will feature at least one of EA’s esports franchise titles per season, along with titles from other publishers.

Involving over 2,500 campuses, Level Next will kick off on 9 November with the Fall Champions Series, featuring EA SPORTS Madden NFL 21. The eight-week competition will consist of a regular season, playoffs, and a championship, and will boast a prize pool of $150K USD.

Discussing the initiative Learfield IMG College President & CEO, Cole Gahagan, said:

“The creation of Level Next is an unprecedented opportunity for all of our partners within the collegiate ecosystem – from brands who wish to target this unique and fast-growing audience, to universities who aim to tap into significant engagement being generated in and around esports.

“Given their unmatched track record of innovation and game marketing, Electronic Arts is the absolute perfect partner to join us in this historic launch, tapping into 1.5 million students, and delivering an entirely new experience to over 185 million nationwide college sports fans.”

While SVP and GM of EA Competitive Gaming Entertainment, Todd Sitrin, added:

“Level Next brings esports into focus for students and universities across the country in a unique way which capitalizes on the excitement and camaraderie of college competition.

“By leveraging EA’s decades of experience at the intersection of traditional sports and esports, and Learfield IMG College’s unprecedented scale and position as the official rights holder for over 200 universities and conferences, this collaboration will establish a much-needed structure within the collegiate esports ecosystem and help to accelerate Madden NFL competitive gaming popularity.”

A social marketing competition will also give camps esports programs the chance to win a share of over $30K. 

The Level Next Fall Champions Series will be broadcast on Twitch and the official website, and more outlets are expected to be announced later. 

AYO.NEWS says:

The development of a thriving collegiate esports scene is crucial to the long term success of esports, and is becoming a major commercial space in its own right. So, it’s great to see Learfield and EA work together to provide this coherent, large-scale brand framework to what is still a relatively splintered area of esports. 

It’s not just in the US that collegiate esports is getting serious. Over the past month we’ve seen Riot Games, Globe Telecom, and AcadArena announce an initiative in the Philippines, Riot reveal Valorant collegiate plans across Southeast Asia, and FACEIT partner with Gaming in Turkey to launch a collegiate CS:GO league. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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NBA Champion and Los Angeles Lakers player, Dion Waiters has invested in Centric Gaming. 

The Miami-based esports and lifestyle brand, which recently signed four Fortnite players for its re-entry into esports, says it is looking to focus on Waiter’s hometown of Philadelphia, and give back to the community there. 

Talking to Esports Insider, Waiters said he “esports had always been a healthy escape” for him, and that he can see himself being involved in the scene for a long time, bringing “that Champ Cheese Swag to esports.”

Waiters is just the latest pro athlete to get involved with esports. Shaquille O’Neil and Alex Rodriguez have teamed up with NRG Esports and Magic Johnson with Team Liquid, while ReKTGlobal, parent company of Rogue and London Royal Ravens, have attracted investment from a string of big sports names including tennis prodigy Taylor Fritz, NFL player Landon Collins, and the NBA’s Rudy Gobert. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s not just high-profile athletes keen to get a piece of the esports and video gaming pie these days, music artists are enthusiastic too. Earlier today we reported that rapper Swae Lee has become the first artist to invest in recently formed Boston-based esports organisation and lifestyle brand XSET. 

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Recently formed Boston-based esports organisation XSET has named rapper Swae Lee as its first investor from the music industry. 

XSET, which was formed in July 2020 by former FaZe Clan executives Greg Selkoe, Wil Eddins, and Clinton Sparks, along with Marco Merue, says Lee, who is a member of duo Rae Sremmurd with his brother Slim Jxmmi, has invested an undisclosed amount in the organisation. 

Apparently, Lee was enticed to get involved in XSET by Clinton Sparks, the luminary record producer and entrepreneur, who was also responsible for attracting a Lee and a host of other artists, including Offset, to FaZe Clan.

Regarding his investment in XSET, Lee spoke with Rolling Stone, saying: 

“I always wanted to be on what’s next. There’s a network of people like myself who want to bring simple access for fans.

“XSET, FaZe, they have fans who like to do the same things I like to do: sit at home on a game and be lazy. I want to help make a huge network for all the kids to enjoy gaming, talk about life, talk smack to each other, get merch, and have first-person access to rappers.”

Despite Lee initially telling Rolling Stone that it was an “eight figure” investment, Lee promptly rephrased, saying it was merely in the “big figures.” XSET has also confirmed it was not an eight figure investment. 

Though details of any activations involving Lee have not been officially revealed, he suggested they could include things like sharing music via streams with XSET players, and even allowing fans to decide his styling and wardrobe for gigs. 

XSET, which already claims to be “the world’s most diverse, innovative, socially conscious pop-gaming and esports “SET” ever assembled”has said it is currently pursuing partnerships with more artists and athletes, and will announce further deals in the coming months. 

The organisation now fields teams in Valorant, Rocket League, Fortnite, Call of Duty Warzone, PUBG Mobile, COD Mobile, and Madden. 

AYO.NEWS says:

With Sparks involved, it was only a matter of time before high-profile artists started joining XSET. Of course, although any big name investors will give valuable publicity in the short-term, the trick will be getting them genuinely involved with content and engagement – something Lee seems keen to dive into. We’re keen to see where this goes…

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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The Game Awards, billed as the world’s biggest celebration of video game culture, has significantly expanded its live distribution plans in India. 

On Thursday 10 December 2020, the gala event will be broadcast live on MTV India, in addition to streaming live and free across OTT platforms including Disney+/Hotstar, Viacom’s VOOT, Reliance’s JioTV, Airtel and MX Player.

The Game Awards will also be available free on platforms including Facebook, Twitch, Twitter, and YouTube, where an exclusive Hindi co-stream will air in partnership with Indian esports organisation NODWIN Gaming. 

In total, The Game Awards, which will be hosted in Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo, will be carried by more than 45 global digital networks around the world, and more distribution partners are set to be announced in the coming weeks. 

Commenting on the news creator of The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley, said:

“We’re thrilled to grow our distribution in India with an incredible group of partners that share our view that gaming is a universal language that challenges, inspires, entertains and ultimately unites cultures.”

While co-founder and Managing Director of NODWIN Gaming, Akshat Rathee, added:

“The Game Awards have always been the epitome of our industry. A true celebration of our art form. This COVID year, we all know that gaming has done well and NODWIN is proud to bring The Game Awards back to India. 

“With the strong backing of MTV on linear TV and Airtel Xstream, Hotstar, Jio, Voot and MXPlayer, we can positively say that this will be the first time that The Game Awards will reach more than 100 million Indians on their most preferred TV channels and OTT platforms. We look forward to celebrating our love for gaming with everyone across the country”

AYO.NEWS says:

As we’ve often said, India really is one of the countries to watch when it comes to esports and the wider video game industry. With gaming-capable mobile devices proliferating at a rapid rate, and a burgeoning tech savvy middle class, the size of the potential market is truly enormous. Couple that with the widespread use of English, and a deeply ingrained competitive and aspirational mindset, and it’s easy to see why a lot of eyes are turning to India. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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Red Bull is teaming up with a bunch of esports celebs and talent to make League of Legends Worlds more accessible with a simplified stream.

League of Legends Worlds Simplified is set to air on Saturday 31 October on Twitch, and aims to “demystify” the League of Legends World Championship event. 

Well-known League of Legends players and personalities, including Marc “Caedrel” Lamont, and Ciernan “Excoundrel” Lowe, Joseph “Munchables” Fenny, Luciana “AngelArcher” Nadrag, and others will feature on the stream, which will be hosted by Frankie Ward and Tom Deacon, and broadcast from the Gfinity Arena in London. 

Introducing the new stream, Red Bull said:

“With millions of viewers tuning in online, the World Finals is the highlight of the global esports calendar.

“Red Bull Worlds Simplified will help newcomers understand the thrill of every baron and dragon play, and the tactical mind games behind the champion draft. Alongside the star studded host of broadcast talent, the stream will also feature high profile guests from around the world of gaming.”

The League of Legends World Championship is hugely popular, with last years’ finals registering an incredible 21.8M global average-minute-audience (AMA), and hitting 44M  concurrent viewers. And, judging from this years’ LCS  Summer split, which saw a 25% growth in AMA, and the LEC which witnessed a surge of 70% in viewership for the Summer Finals, this years’ Worlds’ figures are going to be significantly higher. 

However, despite this, the complexity of League of Legends now risks putting off newcomers – which is something League of Legends Worlds Simplified hopes to address. 

AYO.NEWS says:

This is a very welcome initiative from Red Bull from a commercial point-of-view. After all, although League of Legends is out in front as one of the most popular esports right now, its ability to maintain that popularity in the long term, and grow its appeal to brands and commercial partners, is utterly dependent on it continuing to attract a steady flow of new fans. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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Gaming engagement platform and marketplace Shotcall has secured $2.2M in a seed funding round.

Shotcall says the capital raised in the round, which was led by Initial Capital and New Stack and closed by Lerer Hippeau, will be used to grow its marketplace platform, integrate with more game publishers, and expand hosting opportunities with celebrities and artists. 

Co-founder of Initial Capital, Ken Lamb, has also been appointed to Shotcall’s board of directors. 

Explaining what makes Shotcall such a unique platform, co-founder and CEO Thomas Gentle, said:

“If you have a fan base and you game, you should be on Shotcall. There are dozens of different sites for coaching, hosting tournaments, streaming, and other events, but Shotcall is the only platform that houses all of these interactions under one roof, and not while having to be on the sidelines.

“Shotcall is a two-fold solution for the gaming community. It allows fans to actually play their favourite games with the hosts they admire, while also creating important monetisation opportunities for creators who are resistant to asking their community for direct financial support. Shotcall is a community where both the fan and creator have an incredible return on their investment.”

Atlanta-based Shotcall was founded in 2018 by Gordon Li, Riley Austin, and Thomas Gentle, and has developed a marketplace to allow users like streamers to increase engagement and monetisation through any type of community event, including tournaments, coaching sessions, Q&As, queue lines, charity events, one-on-one competitions, and more. 

Staying in Atlanta, as we reported last week, following its acquisition by a group of investors led by Andrew Steinberg and Todd Harris, Ghost Gaming has relocated from Irvine, California, to Atlanta, Georgia. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Effective engagement with monetisation is the Holy Grail all content creators and players are looking for, so it’s not surprising to see Shotcall is generating a buzz. Of course, with this kind of platform, a lot is going to depend on it being able to entice and keep high-profile streamers and celebrities. Whatever happens, having an extra $2.2M in the bank is going to help. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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