Riot Games has agreed a major esports sponsorship deal with Brazilian telecoms company Oi. 

The agreement will see Oi sponsor the country’s First Strike Valorant tournament, the League of Legends (LoL) World Championship 2020 finals, and the Prêmio CBLoL – ceremony honoring the top players in the Brazilian Championship of League of Legends (CBLoL). Oil will also support the All Stars exhibition tournament. 

Oi is an active supporter of esports in Brazil, and recently renewed its sponsorship of the Prêmio Esports Brasil 2020, a local awards ceremony, for the third straight year.

Staying with Brazilian esports, earlier today we reported that Brazilian football star Casemiro, who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid, has launched his own esports organisation called CaseEsports, signing a complete Brazilian CS:GO team. 

AYO.NEWS says:

While it’s hardly a groundbreaking partnership, it’s great to see Riot has secured support for its first official Valorant tournament in Brazil, 

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Real Madrid and Brazil football star Casemiro has become the latest pro athlete to launch their own esports organisation. 

Casemiro’s new organisation, CaseEsports, has already signed a full Brazilian CS:GO team consisting of Paulo “land1n” Felipe, Denis “dzt” Fisher, Felipe Delboni, Yan “yepz” Pedretti, and Vinicius “⁠n1ssim⁠” Pereira.

The players are relocating to Madrid, Spain, where CaseEsports has an office and gaming house, and the team is set to compete in the DreamHack Open qualifiers in December. 

Discussing the his new venture, HLTV quoted Casemiro as saying:

“This team was created out of a hobby of mine that I really enjoy. I wanted to take it to a professional level, and just like in my career, I want them to be the best. I know that creating a new team and winning titles will take time and require a lot of work, but I hope that the players and the fans will really enjoy this project.”

CaseEsports hasn’t wasted any time securing commercial sponsorships either, already having deals with peripherals brand HyperX, apparel brand BŮH, gaming chair maker Drift and Spanish eyewear brand Hawkers.

Hoy ya somos más grandes, hoy nace @CaseEsports mi propio equipo de CSGO formado por @yanyepz, @dztfps, @delbonifps, @land1ncs y @n1ssimV. #WelcomeCaseEsports pic.twitter.com/JgMFNGGzD7

— Casemiro (@Casemiro) October 29, 2020

AYO.NEWS says:

The fact that CaseEsports has launched with a CS:GO team, rather than something more predictable given its founder’s background, like FIFA, is notable, and suggests a real seriousness – as does the already impressive list of commercial partnerships. 

Recently we’ve seen several pro athletes jump into the world of esports, either as organisation founders or investors. Just yesterday we reported that NBA Champion and LA Lakers Player, Dion Waiters, had invested in Florida-based Centric Gaming, while earlier this month Pittsburgh Steelers player, JuJu Smith-Schuster, launched a new organisation called Team Diverge. 

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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. 

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