SheIS, an initiative to promote and elevate women in sports, has entered esports through a partnership with Canadian organisation Lazarus.

The partnership will see female players from Lazarus’ League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams appointed as athlete ambassadors.

Commenting on the news President of Tiidal Gaming, owner of Lazarus, David Brisson, said:

“We believe in progressing women in esports and are thrilled to partner with the SheIS Collective to help further that goal. Our Lazarus Esports’ female roster gives us the ability to align with like-minded organizations to build profile within the sports industry and shine a spotlight on female competitors.”

While Founder of SheIS, Brenda Andress, added:

“We are extremely excited to expand our SheIS Collective into the esports world and to welcome our newest leaders to sit among the SheIS Collective, further cross-pollinating our efforts and embracing the power within our leagues and with their amazing athletes. By strengthening this group, we are showing the sports world that we are ready to up our game and showing everyone that we can have a positive impact on women’s sports.”

SheIs currently works with several big-name sports brands includi

Female sporting initiative SheIS enters esports through partnership with Canadian esports organisation Lazarus.

ng adidas, National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL), Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), and WWE.

AYO.NEWS says:

Though we have to applaud the work SheIS is doing in traditional sports, the fact that it has got involved in esports could backfire. Afterall, while it is understandable that in many traditional, more physical sports, where men are on average physically different, segregation is logical in terms of both fairness and safety, in esports things are different. It could be argued that, far from furthering equality, and albeit no doubt unintentionally, focusing on gender differences in a world that really doesn’t need segregation at all, might actually help create barriers in people’s minds that weren’t there to start with. Just something to be careful of.

Esports organisation Team Secret appoints former Chairman and CEO of UBS Investment Bank, John Costas, as Vice Chairman, Strategy & Finance.

European esports organisation Team Secret has demonstrated it means business by appointing former Chairman and CEO of UBS Investment Bank, John Costas, as Vice Chairman, Strategy & Finance.

According to Team Secret, Costas will bring his considerable experience to bear on the tasks of growing the business and reaching “new frontiers in the industry.”

Commenting on the appointment CEO of Team Secret, John Yao, said:

“John is someone that I respect tremendously – the addition of his passion, intelligence, and experience marks the next stage in Team Secret’s growth, and we look forward to an exciting future together.”

During his time with UBS, Costas oversaw the bank’s US investment banking franchise, and also spent time as Chairman and CEO of Dillon Read Capital Management, a trading unit of UBS. He is also the Managing Member of Costas Family Holdings, a private investment firm.

Team Secret currently competes in Dota 2, Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege and Rocket League, has recently beefed up its Fortnite roster and has been actively seeking players for Apex Legends.

Commercial partners of the organisation currently include CORSAIR, Meta Threads, NVIDIA, Secretlab, Twitch and Uwin.

AYO.NEWS says:

The fact that an esports organisation has recruited the former chairman and CEO of a major investment bank serves to illustrate just what a serious commercial business esports has become. With Wall Street executives joining esports management teams and organisations being floated on stock exchanges, things sure escalate quickly!

Team Envy and Dallas Fuel partner with world’s largest video games retailer, GameStop. Live gaming clinics to be held at stores throughout year.

North American esports organisation Team Envy and Dallas Fuel, its Overwatch League franchise, have entered a partnership with the world’s largest video games retailer GameStop.

The partnership will see Team Envy and Dallas Fuel hold live gaming clinics, featuring Fuel’s head coach “Aero” and assistant coach “Jayne” with GameStop through the year, helping to inspire amateurs with an interest in becoming esports pros.

According to Team Envy, there’s an exciting program of fan engagement activities planned, including contests, watch parties and player appearances. “Activation support” will also be provided to GameStop’s plans to expand “into programming around collegiate esports programs.”

Talking about the new sponsorship President and COO of Envy Gaming, Geoff Moore, said:

“We’re excited to partner with GameStop at a point in time where everyone involved in gaming is starting to build for the future. Esports as a global sport and the accessibility of video games have the potential to positively impact billions of people through shared experiences, content and more. Having a partner in GameStop that makes sharing a passion for gaming a priority is the perfect way for Envy and the Dallas Fuel to connect with our fans in our home market in Texas and globally.”

While Chief Marketing Officer at GameStop, Frank Hamlin, added:

“We are aiming to become the local neighborhood hub for amateur esports and we are thrilled to collaborate with Envy Gaming and their players so they can help inspire and educate the gaming community at the grassroots level.”

Founded over 20 years ago, North Texas-based GameStop has become a world leader in video game retail, and is now a Fortune 500 company with more than 5,800 stores in 14 countries across Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States.

Other Team Envy commercial partners include CORSAIR, Jack In The Box, Monster Energy, SCUF Gaming and Twitch.

AYO.NEWS says:

A partnership like this is a smart move for GameStop considering the challenges facing any ‘bricks and mortar’ retailer these days. Turning their stores into community gaming hubs could ensure their long term success, even when up against online retail.