GameCo has partnered with US Bookmaking and Sky Ute Casino Resort to launch the United States first esports-dedicated sportsbook.

Initially, the esportsbook will be available digitally on premises at the Sky Ute Casino Resort in Colorado, and online to residents and visitors to the state. 

Las Vegas-based GameCo will leverage its partnerships with Askott Entertainment, GRID, and 10Start, in conjunction with its esports betting solution, to power a full 24/7 in-play betting offering. 

Discussing the new esportsbook, Sky Ute Casino Resort Assistant General Manager, Travis Garlick, said:

“Esports mobile betting has always been on the horizon and now the Sky Ute Casino Resort is excited to enter the arena. In conjunction with Sky Ute Casino’s service providers, U.S. Bookmaking, and GameCo, Sky Ute selected these associates to provide a unique customer experience that will infuse the world of esports with the excitement of the casino industry.”

While Co-founder and CEO of GameCo, Blaine Graboyes, added:

“GameCo is proud to work with US Bookmaking and Sky Ute to continue moving the industry forward by providing the first-ever dedicated esports book in the U.S. We are thrilled to provide a comprehensive solution that enhances the esports betting industry for our Colorado players wherever and whenever they want to play, and we’re looking forward to bringing these kinds of innovations to additional US markets soon.”

In August, GameCo launched a dedicated esports brand, iGameCo. Its esports betting solution combines Askott Entertainment’s Chameleon Gaming Platform, GRID’s data and streaming solutions, and 10Star’s trading services. 

To ensure compliance with Colorado’s regulatory framework, the project is being overseen and monitored by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) to ensure match and wagering integrity. 

AYO.NEWS says:

GameCo has been leading the way in terms of introducing video game-style skill-based elements into casino gaming for some time, so it seems natural it would enter the esports betting industry. Though this initial launch is rather geographically limited, we’re sure it won’t be long until it rolls out into other regulated US markets. 

In September, AYO.NEWS’ very own Simona Pinterova caught up with GameCo CEO & Co-founder, Blaine Graboyes, to find out more about the newly launched iGameCo brand. 

‘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.

Major League Soccer (MLS) and Electronic Arts have announced the competitive schedule and new online format for the 2021 season of eMLS, Major League Soccer’s esports league. 

The season will feature a $70,000 prize pool and will be headlined by eMLS Cup presented by Coca-Cola on March 20-21. Competition will occur on EA SPORTS™ FIFA 21 and will be played exclusively on PlayStation®4 (PS4).

With the health and safety of all participants at the forefront, the entirety of the 2021 competitive eMLS season will be online. Two clubs are new to eMLS next season – Inter Miami CF and Saint Louis City SC – which puts total club participation at 27. 

Each Club is represented by a professional FIFA player in all eMLS competitions in a quest to be crowned the best FIFA ‘21 player in North America. Some Clubs are retaining their FIFA player from last season while other Clubs will be signing new players. The full 2021 eMLS roster will be released on Thursday.

Looking forward to the new season Senior Vice President of Properties and Events, Major League Soccer, Camilo Durana, said:

“With an expanded roster of clubs and the return of many of our top competitors, we’re excited to announce our 2021 eMLS season.

 “eMLS has become a successful and important part of our annual calendar, enabling our League and clubs to connect with fans across North America and all over the world, while highlighting our most exciting players. With the continued and enhancing support of our partners and increasingly competitive field, this eMLS season promises to be our best season yet.”

While Group Director & FIFA Competitive Gaming Commissioner, Brent Koning, added:

“The popularity of the eMLS continues to grow as this marquee tournament is another example of FIFA’s elevation into a tier one esport.

“Our partnership with MLS and the 27 MLS clubs provides another engaging avenue for attracting new fans and partners to the sport through compelling competition.”

The 2021 eMLS season will be comprised of three live-streamed tournaments that each take place over the course of two days, doubling the content hours of the 2020 eMLS season. 

The season will kick off in January with eMLS League Series One presented by Coca-Cola, continue in February with eMLS League Two presented by Coca-Cola and conclude in March with eMLS Cup presented by Coca-Cola. 

Ahead of each League Series, all 27 Clubs will play in online qualifier games with the top 8 Clubs in points making it to the respective League Series knockout tournament. After League Series concludes, the top 11 Clubs in total points will automatically qualify for eMLS Cup. 

The remaining 16 Clubs will compete in a Last Chance Qualifier tournament to battle for the final 12th seed of eMLS Cup. The New York Red Bull’s eMLS competitor, George Adamou, is the reigning eMLS Cup champion from 2020.

2021 eMLS Season Schedule:

• Jan. 16-17 – League Series One
• Feb. 13-14 – League Series Two
• March 20-21 – eMLS Cup

Fans can tune in to all three competitions (detailed below) on Twitch.tv/MLS, Twitter.com/MLS and MLSsoccer.com.

eMLS is an Official League Partner of the EA SPORTS™ FIFA Global Series – the global competitive FIFA ecosystem – whereby players can advance from the FIFA 21 Global Series Playoffs to the FIFA eWorld Cup. 

The Global Series shifted to a completely online format and will be region-based in 2021. eMLS is a Tier 1 League Qualifier for the North America region which enables the top three finishers at eMLS Cup to receive direct seats to the PS4™ Global Series North America Regional Playoffs.

eMLS players finished the FIFA 20 global competitive season in strong form and will look to keep up the momentum for FIFA 21. FC Cincinnati’s eMLS player, FCC Fiddle, and Atlanta United’s eMLS player, Paulo Neto, were champions of the North America and South America EA SPORTS™ FIFA 20 Summer Cups, respectively. With these two trophies, eMLS finished the FIFA 20 season with more regional titles than any other domestic soccer league in the world.

New this season, JLab becomes the official audio and microphone partner of eMLS and competitors will wear JLab Play headphones and use Talk Microphones. eMLS competitions will also feature SCUF Gaming controllers. Specializing in high-performance customized gaming controllers and accessories, SCUF controllers enable gamers to improve their gameplay by completely redefining control.

Cheez-It® & Pringles® are returning as the Official Snack Partner of eMLS and will be the presenting partner of eMLS Player Lounges and eMLS Player Profiles, a digital series highlighting the player’s personal stories. PlayStation® continues its partnership as the Official Console Partner. Coca-Cola continues its partnership as the Official Carbonated Beverages and Water Partner and will be the presenting partner of eMLS League Series and eMLS Cup.

For more information on eMLS, including participating clubs and player signings, visit www.MLSsoccer.com/eMLS.

AYO.NEWS says:

No doubt many will be disappointed to learn that yet another major esports tournament has been forced totally online, but still, we expect this year’s action will be more popular than ever, which can only be a good thing for the entire FIFA esports ecosystem in the long-run. 

‘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.

Red Bull Wololo, the Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition 1v1 online tournament, is set to return for a third season in January 2021. 

From 2 January, competitors will battle it out on a global stage, to find out who can forge the strongest civilisation. According to organisers, there’s going to be a brand new story introduced, and the prize pool is the biggest yet.

The competition will be split into two parts, with Open Qualifiers taking place over two weekends, and the eight qualifier winners invited to the finals to take on the top eight pros from II and Age of Empires professional players Mr_Yo, TheViper, Hera, Liereyy, TaToH, TheMax, Nicov, and Capoch.

Qualifier prizes, including official Red Bull Wololo hoodies, gaming mousepads, AOC Gaming monitors, and custom engraved wooden tankards, will be awarded to the top 128 players. The 16-person Finals will take place over five days, from 16 January, with a “remarkable prize pool” up for grabs. 

The Red Bull Wololo III will see players face off in one-on-one competition in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition. Starting in the Feudal Age, the action will rage across 12 new and existing maps. A new story will add a unique twist to the overall narrative – with players representing Asian Civilisation, rather than the Western one of Red Bull Wololo I and II. 

The event will be streamed globally and hosted by well-known Age of Empires 2 casters, including T90Official, Nili_Aoe and Dave_Aoe.

Red Bull Wololo III takes place on the following dates and at the following times. You can catch the main event on the official Red Bull Twitch and YouTube channels.

Qualifier 1: Saturday, January 2 & Sunday, January 3

Qualifier 2: Saturday, January 9 & Sunday, January 10

Main Event: Saturday, January 16 & Sunday, January 17

Main Event: Friday, January 22 & Sunday, January 24

AYO.NEWS says:

Games like Age of Empires might not grab the esports limelight like other titles, but it’s an extremely popular title and makes for very interesting competitive play, so it’s great to see Red Bull is continuing to support Wololo. 

‘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.

Queens Gaming Collective has announced a new monthly streaming series called QueensVS. 

The new series will highlight the new female-led collective’s talent, and is being billed as a “celebration of women empowerment and inclusivity.” QueensVS starts with 5-hour live stream on Thursday 17 December at 3pm (PT). 

It will also form part of the line-up for the Entertainment Software Association Foundation’s Say Goodbye to 2020 For Good charity streaming event, which will feature influencers, celebrities, and streamers playing popular games to raise awareness and funds for selected charities, including the Foundation’s scholarship program. 

You can donate to the cause at Tiltify. 

As reported last month, Queens Gaming Collective has raised $1.5M in a seed funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, and has put together an impressive advisory board, including top experts from the H. Wood Group, along with senior executives from Amazon, Spotify, TikTok, and Twitch.

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

Swift Media Entertainment, parent company of esports organisation TSM, has launched the ICON talent management company. 

Based in Los Angeles, ICON says it will be focusing on representing top-tier digital talent in the gaming, streaming, and esports spaces – fostering careers through branded content, influencer marketing, and the development of new business ventures. 

ICON’s CEO, Damian Skoczylas, is a veteran of traditional Hollywood talent management, who has since expanded his expertise into the emerging digital entertainment landscape. He previously served as SVP of Talent at Bottle Rocket Management, SVP of Talent at Studio71, Head of Talent Development at AwesomenessTV, and was Senior Talent Manager at Fullscreen.

Before joining the digital entertainment business, Skoczylas worked for Untitled Entertainment, in the Talent and Branded Entertainment departments.  

Introducing ICON, Skoczylas said:

“At ICON, we bring our vast expertise to the specific needs of streaming and gaming talent, and can connect brands to valuable opportunities with specific individuals in mind.

“With our talent-first approach, ICON services and supports our clients according to their individual needs and ambitions, delivering the highest level of service and opportunities. ICON is ideally positioned to build and develop talent into the mega-stars and entrepreneurs they aspire to be.”

AYO.NEWS says:

With the digital entertainment space awash with unrepresented, or inadequately represented talent, we’re seeing talent agencies pop up around the world. For example, last month EMERGE Esports launched in Singapore, while in October Japanese esports management agency RELATION X secured a strategic investment from talent agency group Gushcloud International. Of course, we reckon ICON’s Hollywood connections are going to be a considerable advantage when it comes to landing talent the best deals. 

‘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.

Esports Entertainment Group (EEG) has entered a multi-year partnership with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. 

The deal, which is the first the gambling operator has made with an NFL team, makes EEG the Eagles’ official esports provider, and will see the football team become an EEG shareholder. 

EEG will run bi-annual esports tournaments for the Eagles, using Madden NFL and the Esports Gaming League (EGL) platform – which the company announced it would be acquiring during the summer. The collaboration will also cover content creation, including videos to promote the esports tournaments. 

Discussing the news CEO of Esports Entertainment Group, Grant Johnson, said:

“We are thrilled to partner with the Philadelphia Eagles as they introduce their fans to the world of competitive esports gaming.

“The Eagles join a growing list of high-profile organisations that have chosen Esports Entertainment Group as their esports tournament provider, affording us an incredible opportunity to expand our brand reach within multiple large, dedicated fan bases and setting the stage for significant growth ahead. We intend to build on this momentum.”

While Senior Vice President, Revenue and Strategy, Philadelphia Eagles, Catherine Carlson, added:

“This innovative partnership with Esports Entertainment Group presents a wonderful opportunity for us to expand our reach in a growing market and create new experiences for Eagles fans.

“Esports Entertainment Group has always been a progressive leader in the esports space and has been ahead of the curve in terms of how its interactive platform brings together gaming enthusiasts from all around the world.

“We look forward to debuting a number of exciting projects through this partnership, including the launch of the highly anticipated Madden tournament series on the Esports Gaming League platform.”

In addition to its esports betting platform Vie.gg, EEG also operates an online sportsbook in the form of SportNation.bet. 

AYO.NEWS says:

EEG is nothing if not well-resourced and ambitious. In addition to the new deal with the Philadelphia Eagles (NFL), this year the company has announced partnerships with Philadelphia Union (MLS), LA Galaxy (MLS), and LA Kings (NHL). Plus, as well as acquiring Esports Gaming League, the company has also announced plans to acquire Helix eSports and ggGGCircuit. 

‘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.