ReKTGlobal, parent company of Rogue and London Royal Ravens, has acquired Fearless Media.

Founded in 2009 by Cara Scharf, New York-based Fearless Media is a full service data-driven media agency specialising in the entertainment, gaming, consumer electronics, and technology verticals. 

The agency has created advertising campaigns in collaboration with some of the world’s biggest consumer brands including PSYONIX, Valve, Turtle Beach, Bethesda, Epic Games, THQ Nordic, Redbox, GuitarWorld, and LessonFace. 

Discussing the news CEO of ReKTGlobal, Dave Bialek, said:

“ReKTGlobal’s acquisition of Fearless Media is unlike any other in the esports industry. It allows us to fully support the growing demand for advertising and marketing solutions to the gaming and esports community, as we continue to build our industry leading esports marketing portfolio.”

Fearless Media’s founder, Cara Scharf, has won several awards in recent years, including Acquisitions International’s Most Innovative Marketing Business Leader in 2019, Creative Women in Marketing by Aspioneer in 2019, and Top NY Woman in Business by Oprah Magazine & Entrepreneur in 2018. Fearless Media was also named one of Clutch’s Top New York Marketing & Advertising Agencies in the US in 2018. 

Regarding the acquisition, Scharf, said:

“We pride ourselves on bringing next level digital marketing solutions to our clients across a multitude of industries. Now through ReKTGlobal, we have the opportunity for cross-pollination across all of our amazing brand partners.”

In 2019, ReKTGlobal acquired New Jersey-based Greenlit Content, a hybrid company behind some of gaming’s most popular sites, including TwinGalaxies.com, Shacknews.com, GameDaily.Biz, and PrimaGames.com. 

The company creates viral branded gaming content, events, and activations, in collaboration with well-known consumer companies including Xbox, HyperX, Chips Ahoy!, Warner Bros., NBC Sports, State Farm, Turtle Beach, and Redbox, and now reaches up to 100 million gamers monthly. 

CEO and Co-Founder of Greenlit Content, John Benyamine, commented:

“We’re excited to welcome Fearless Media to the ReKTGlobal network. With the backing of ReKTGlobal, we have continued to grow our esports audience, and with Fearless Media coming aboard, we’ll have the ability to connect with an even wider audience to drive integrated marketing solutions across social and traditional media on a global level.”

AYO.NEWS says:

With investors ranging from tennis prodigy Taylor Fritz, and NFL All-Pro safety Landon Collins, to DJ Nicky Romero, Steve Aoki, and Imagine Dragons on board, top-tier esports teams under its ownership, and a growing portfolio of media and content businesses, ReKTGlobal’s capabilities and reach is already vast, and growing daily. 

The acquisition of an award-winning agency like Fearless Media makes a lot of sense, opening up many opportunities for cross pollination, and significant synergies. 

‘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

Codemasters and Motorsport Games have announced the second season of the DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series will begin on 25 August when live qualification rounds go live in-game.

The season is scheduled to culminate in a live showpiece final at the Autosport International Show at the Birmingham NEC on 16 January 2021, when 12 drivers will race for a share of a $20,000 USD prize pool – double that of the inaugural season.

Additionally, the winner of the rallycross championship will get to test drive the QEV electric rallycross car that will be powering the new FIA eRX2 Championship. 

The DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series follows the success of the first season alongside the World RX Esports Series which attracted over 1.24 million live views. The coming World Series will once again have separate championships for rally and rallycross, each with its own $10K prize pool. 

Discussing the series Game Director of DiRT Rally 2.0 at Codemasters, Ross Gowing, said:

“The DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series surpassed our expectations. We knew there was an appetite, but we didn’t expect the vast level of participation and engagement.  Now we get to do it all over again with a bigger event and even more prize money. We are also delighted to reward players with the in-game Ford Fiesta R5 and hope this is an added incentive for players of all levels to get involved.”

While Project Manager for the new FIA eRX2 Championship, Pere Gonzalez, added:

“We are very excited to be partnering with Codemasters and Motorsport Games for the forthcoming DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series. The interest in esports has exploded in recent months, in particular amongst younger participants and fans, and we see a lot of synergies between this demographic and the new FIA eRX2 Championship, which is right at the forefront of rallycross’ electrification. 

“We have witnessed in other disciplines how gamers have the potential and ability to transition into real-life racers, and we look forward to following the competition’s second season as it unfolds and to helping the eventual winner to put their skills to the test in real life.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Despite the resumption of many live sports, including motorsports, the ongoing COVID-19 crisis still presents the threat of more disruption, and sim racing is seeing the explosive growth catalysed by the lockdowns continue. So, the second season of the DiRT Rally World Series looks set to prove extremely popular. 

We do, however, feel organisers are being a little optimistic in assuming the Autosport International Show will be going ahead at the NEC in January 2021! 

Staying with Motorsport Games, last month the company revealed it had secured a multi-year license to create the official video game and associated esport for the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). 

‘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

Isle of Man-based esports betting site Luckbox has launched its biggest ever bonus in time for ESL One Cologne. 

Pulling out all the stops in celebration of the flagship CS:GO tournament, which starts today and runs through 30 August, new and existing Luckbox customers can get a 200% boost on their next deposit. 

In addition to providing competitive odds for a host of markets on every match, Luckbox is offering live streams, stats, and rosters, and fans can enjoy in-play and pre-match betting, on mobile or desktop. 

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this year ESL One Cologne is being played entirely online in four regional divisions. The tournament features some of the world’s leading Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams, including Team Liquid, Astralis, Vitality, Na’Vi, FURIA, and Evil Geniuses. 

Commenting on the news Director of sportsbook at Luckbox, Metodi Zaburtov, said:

“ESL One Cologne promises to be an amazing event for CS:GO fans to enjoy and we are doing our best to make it even better with the biggest bonus we have ever given away.

“Our typical welcome offer is 100%, which is very generous, but throughout ESL One Cologne, we are doubling the bonus.

“We hope our existing players plus some new players will use the bonus to give Luckbox a try – we are sure they will like what they see as we have an unparalleled CS:GO betting experience.”

Luckbox’s Cologne bonus is available now. Players can receive up to a maximum of €200. Maximum winnings and wagering requirements apply. Players must be 18 and in an eligible country to open an account with Luckbox.

Luckbox gives fans the chance to bet on a host of CS:GO markets, including match winner, correct score, total maps, map advantage and total rounds.

Luckbox is fully regulated and licenced and offers several deposit and withdrawal methods, including bank transfer, Visa, Mastercard, Neteller as well as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

AYO.NEWS says:

Many fans will be disappointed that this year’s ESL One Cologne is an entirely online affair, so it’s great to see Luckbox helping cheer them up with its most generous offer yet. 

Want to find out more about what makes Luckbox a leader in esports betting, and hear what they’ve got planned for the future? Don’t miss our exclusive interview with Luckbox’s CEO, Quentin Martin. 

‘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

North American esports organisation Dignitas and EEG-owned esports betting platform VIE.gg have enhanced their partnership. 

The extended agreement gives Esports Entertainment Group’s VIE.gg naming rights to Dignitas’ Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster, which is now known as ‘Dignitas VIE.’

In addition to naming rights, VIE.gg is also jersey sponsor for Dignitas’ CS:GO roster, and “strategic digital and physical activations,” especially aimed at the New Jersey market, are also planned. 

Discussing the extended partnership CEO of Dignitas, Michael Prindiville, said:

“We are honored to partner with an innovative, multinational brand like VIE.gg. Our co-branded CS:GO team and the immense opportunity around esports betting content in our home state of New Jersey enable us to tell unique and engaging stories at the forefront of both esports betting and competition to millions of fans worldwide.”

While Head of Esports at Esports Entertainment Group, Magnus Leppäniemi, added:

“We are excited to further expand our partnership with Dignitas. As a committed long-term partner, we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to co-brand our VIE.gg platform alongside Dignitas’ legendary CS:GO team, an opportunity that can introduce our brand to millions of esports fans globally and help establish our status as a Tier 1 operator within esports betting.”

Dignitas also has commercial partnerships with Champion, ExpressVPN, HUYA, HyperX, SIG, Raynor Gaming, RESPAWN by Razer, and Verizon.

Esports Entertainment Group, operator of VIE.gg is publicly listed on NASDAQ and maintains offices in the Mediterranean gaming hub of Malta. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Partnering with an organisation with the profile of Dignitas is sure to boost VIE.gg’s visibility in key markets, and shows how serious Esports Entertainment Group (EEG) is in establishing a presence in the esports betting scene. 

Just last week the company announced plans to acquire certain assets of mobile games studio FLIP Sports Limited, and at the end of last month it appointed Wall Street veteran Jeff Cohen as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Investor Relations. 

One thing is for sure, EEG is showing it has deep pockets and plenty of ambition!

‘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

Online betting operator Parimatch has teamed up with Sector X, an acceleration hub and Ukraine’s largest platform connecting businesses with start-ups. 

The partners are searching for the next successful start-up in the entertainment tech space, and there’s up to $5 million USD funding available to access from JKR Investment Group. 

Start-ups selected for the acceleration hub program will gain access to support and mentorship from experts at Parimatch Tech and financial investment from JKR Investment Group, and will be given the opportunity to launch a pilot of their product or service. 

Participants will also receive support from the community of entrepreneurs and resources at UNIT.City Innovation Park, home to Sector X. 

The project is looking for start-ups in the following areas:

• Sports event forecast models
• Non-cash rates
• Online quizzes
• Online payments
• Innovations in online casino products
• Online poker and player identification tools
• Slots/side games
• Innovation and optimization of online rates
• Solutions for integrating statistical and news information on sporting events into a product with a focus on personalisation
• Risk management in both traditional and esports betting
• Match prediction and e-sports media resources; content projects, analytics tools CS : GO, Dota2, HLTV parsers, Liquipedia;
• Optimization of video delivery speed
• AR effects in video streams, virtual studios, video production
• Uploading statistics to video
• Computer-aided data acquisition solutions

Further details and instructions on how to apply can be found here: https://sectorx.city/ 

AYO.NEWS says:

With a functional regulated gambling market now in the process of being set up, plus a vibrant esports scene, Ukraine is a land of opportunity for start-ups right now (despite the obvious geopolitical threats and stability issues), and the nation has a strong entrepreneurial streak, so it will be interesting to see which start-ups get involved. 

Staying with Parimatch, earlier this month the operator was confirmed as official betting partner of the new Dota 2 OMEGA League esports series.  

‘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

DMAX Turkey has secured Turkish broadcast media rights to the ESL Pro Tour from tournament organisers DreamHack and ESL. 

The agreement over the rights to four Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments – ESL One Cologne Online, IEM New York Online, Rio Major, and ESL National Championship Turkey – and will see DMAX Turkey distribute licensed content on both linear and digital channels. 

Discussing the deal Senior Vice President Global Media at ESL, Frank Uddo, said:

“We are excited about commencing our partnership with DMAX Turkey. Kicking-off in Turkey with such a strong partner will truly bring esports closer to the fans.

“As DMAX is a highly professional broadcaster to work with, we are hoping to further foster esports within the country going forward reaching a broad audience in Turkey via DMAX’ established channels.”

While VP of FTA Channels Turkey & VP of Editorial Development EMEA, Unai Iparragirre, added:

“I am very excited to announce this new collaboration with ESL and DreamHack. Many DMAX viewers are big fans of esports, and thanks to this partnership, DMAX will become the new home of esports in Turkey and we will broadcast exclusively a number of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments starting with ESL One Cologne, which will take place between August 18-30.”

Istanbul-based DMAX Turkey is a free-to-air co-viewing TV channel owned by Discovery Inc, and has been broadcasting in the country since 2018. The channel says it now reaches 6 million viewers daily, and 51 million unique viewers annually. 

AYO.NEWS says:

As we’ve previously noted, with in-person events still off the table due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, broadcasting deals like this are likely to be increasingly important to DreamHack and ESL’s parent company, MTG.

Earlier this month, ESL and DreamHack announced a three-year streaming deal with Brazilian TV network Global and entertainment website Omelete, and a 1-year streaming agreement with Chinese platform DouYu.  

As for Turkey, having the ESL Pro Tour broadcast on a free-to-air channel, in the Turkish language, can only help grow the national esports scene. 

‘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