The agreement will see Poland-based Fantasyexpo act as the official marketing and business agency of PGL, as it prepares for the PGL Major Stockholm 2021.

Slated for October/November 2021, the event will see twenty-four teams from around the world slug it out for the title and a share of a $2M USD prize pool – the biggest in CS:GO history. 

Commenting on the news, Krzysztof Stypułkowski, Co-founder of Fantasyexpo, said: “Collaboration of this caliber is the best recognition for many years of our contribution to the esports scene. We have known each other with PGL for a long time, so we are very pleased that we can take our partnership to the next level. As their business partner, we will try to ensure that the cooperation will result in the acquisition of the most attractive partners.”

Silviu Stroie, CEO PGL, added: “PGL MAJOR STOCKHOLM 2021 is going to be the biggest CS:GO event ever, and we must deliver an incredible show for the viewers and the clients. We decided to partner with Fantasyexpo, an agency that we trust with a solid history in esports, to materialize our ideas and activations. We cannot wait to show the world what we have prepared  for this fantastic event.”

Fantasyexpo has previously completed a number of activations in the gaming space for major global brands including Old Spice and KFC. The agency’s extensive portfolio includes many regional tournaments, a growing number of tier two international events, and broadcasts from several past Majors.

The agency says it has prepared “many creative solutions” for brands advertising at the PGL Major, including the ADitional Major Show, inspired by the Super Bowl halftime show.

It means that Kinguin is now the lead sponsor of two top-tier esports teams from Poland – the other being League of Legends‘ devils.one.

As part of the partnership, Kinguin will provide Anonymo with access to the Kinguin Esports Performance Center (EPC). The EPC is the most professional and advanced esports training facility in Europe, with Anonymo receiving its own dedicated, branded top-class training room. The facility, which is based in Warsaw, is the first professional training facility for esports organisations in Europe and provides teams with access to training and analyst rooms, psychologists and physiotherapists, professional chefs and gym facilities. 

From the beginning of last year EPC has been used by world-leading esports organizations, including OG, FaZe Clan, Team Vitality, MiBR, Evil Geniuses, 100 Thieves, Furia and many others.

Kinguin branding will feature on Anonymo jerseys, and both parties will also be collaborating for a Polish CS:GO tournament and various community projects.

Anonymo CEO, Mateusz Kowalczyk said: “We’re really excited to name Kinguin as our lead sponsor and look forward to collaborating with the organisation on numerous projects in the future. Our ambition, as an organization is to become a mainstream esports organisation that competes on the international stage and the sponsorship with Kinguin will be paramount to helping us achieve that. Having access to the world class training facilities at Kinguin’s Esports Performance Center in Warsaw is also going to help with our progression, at what is currently a pivotal stage of development for the team.”

Kinguin has a long history of sponsoring esports organisations and events and was one of the first digital marketplaces to launch a dedicated website where customers could purchase CS:GO skins. 

Team Kinguin, the organisation’s own esports team launched in 2015, and was regarded as one of the best CS:GO teams in history owing to their international roster of talent.  The team later rebranded as devils.one in 2019 and over the years, both teams have helped numerous professional gamers forge their careers in CS:GO, DOTA 2 and League of Legends esports. 

Kinguin has also previously sponsored numerous International CS:GO tournaments, such as the Dreamhack Masters Malmö, IEM Katowice and ESL CS:GO Pro League, as well as numerous esports organisations such as Fnatic, G2 Esports and the Copenhagen Wolves. 

Meanwhile, newly formed esports organisation Anonymo launched at the start of 2021. It recently unveiled its competitive CS:GO lineup, which consists of legendary Polish CS:GO veteran Janusz “⁠Snax⁠” Pogorzelski, in-game leader Wiktor “⁠mynio⁠” Kruk, as well as Kamil “⁠KEi⁠” Pietkun and Kacper “⁠Kylar⁠” Walukiewicz and Paweł “innocent” Mocek. 

The team has previously competed in local Polish and European tournaments, including the ESL Polish Championships and the Dreamhack Open January 2021: Europe. The team is now set to compete on the international CS:GO stage later in 2021. 

Kinguin CEO and Founder, Viktor Romaniuk Wanli, said: “We’re really happy to unveil our sponsorship of Anonymo, a leading, professional Polish esports organisation. Kinguin has a rich history of sponsoring various esports teams and events – particularly in the CS:GO scene – and we’re delighted to re-enter the CS:GO space and start a completely new chapter through this partnership. It means Kinguin now sponsors two of the biggest esports teams in Poland that compete in two of the biggest esports in the world – CS:GO and League of Legends.”

Staying with Kinguin, in February this year, the company announced its marketplace had registered 10 million customers globally – representing an increase of 20% since the beginning of 2020.

Founded in 2019 by a team of live streaming and marketing professionals, the platform is designed to enable all streamers to grow and monetise their passion, and to allow brands to work with streamers to reach the hard to engage Gen Z audience. 

Colopl Next and PKO TFI also participated in the latest funding round, while SMOK VC – a firm run by Niantic, Unity, Uber and Stripe investor Paul Bragiel – previously made a pre-seed investment. 

Wiktoria Wójcik, co-founder, inSTREAMLY, said: “I personally know how life-changing it can be for a small streamer to get their first revenue from streaming. It makes you believe that you can turn your passion into a career. With the new funds, we will be accelerating our expansion to new markets and aim to deliver the best opportunities to streamers worldwide.”

Phoebe Arkell, Supernode Global, commented: “We see massive potential in how inSTREAMLY is democratising sponsorship opportunities for the live streaming ecosystem and believe the team’s deep understanding of the market and passion for streaming will be a key component to their success. We’re incredibly excited to lead this round and look forward to supporting inSTREAMLY as they expand their platform into new markets.” 

Krzysztof Tokarski, Managing Director at PKO VC, added: “Media agencies and large brands are currently facing difficulties in building a sales message that would be engaging for the Generation Z. inSTREAMLY fills this gap. The value of the Company is built for all current shareholders, and we believe it will be a part of inSTREAMLY global success.”

It means German, French, and Polish students will be able to join those from Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom in its Spring Season. AUE has also said it intends to expand into the Nordic countries over the coming months. 

AUE, which uses a platform created and operated by GGTech Entertainment, aims to support the growth of university esports across countries, and create a thriving global competitive gaming environment.

The UK’s Spring season of Amazon UNIVERSITY Esports kicked off last month, with over 3,000 students from 91 universities competing across titles including CS:GO, League of Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, and VALORANT.

You can catch the finals, streamed live on Twitch from 29 March – 1 April. AUE’s last UK Winter season racked up over 1M tournament broadcast live views. Across Spain, Italy, and the UK, last Winter’s qualifying tournaments attracted over 5M viewers across various channels. 

The reigning Polish champions have teamed up with Malta-based fintech blockchain company, Chiliz, to launch a fan token on its Socios.com platform in the coming months. 

$LEG Fan Token owners will be entitled to a range of benefits, including the right to vote in multiple club decisions each season, VIP rewards and experiences, exclusive club and sponsor promotions, games, competitions, and more. 

Discussing the news CEO of Legia Warsaw, Dariusz Mioduski, said:

“We are very proud that the global brand Socios.com has joined the group of our partners. Pioneering solutions and new technologies, which additionally give our fans unique opportunities to actively participate in the life of our club, are the exact direction in which we want to develop.

“We believe that the potential of the most popular sports brand in this part of Europe, which Legia Warsaw undoubtedly is, will allow Socios.com to gain many fans not only in Poland, but also in the international arena.”

Legia Warsaw joins a growing list of major sports organisations which have partnered with Socios.com to launch Fan Tokens, including FC Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, AS Roma, Atlético de Madrid, Galatasaray, and Trabzonspor. 

Additionally, esports organisations Team Heretics, NAVI, OG, and Alliance have also launched Fan Tokens on the platform, and mixed martial arts organisations UFC and the Professional Fighters League will also be launching Fan Tokens in the coming months. 

Staying with Fan Tokens and Chiliz, last week the company announced the listing of both the Atletico de Madrid ($ATM) and AS Roma ($ASR) Fan Tokens on Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Paribu.

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IEM Katowice 2021 is expected to lead to a “significant uptick” in esports betting action this month.

The $1m CS:GO championship, due to start on Tuesday, February 16, is among the standout events of the year and comes after almost 12 months of disruption to the esports calendar.

The event is famed for being held at the Polish city’s iconic Spodek Arena but Covid restrictions mean no fans will be in attendance as teams play online from locations around Europe.

Nevertheless, a flurry of betting action is expected on the event, as 24 of the world’s best CS:GO teams compete for the $400,000 first prize. 

Metodi Zaburtov, Director of Sportsbook at Luckbox, said: 

“CS:GO fans have been starved of action for much of the past 12 months and IEM Katowice has a special place in their hearts.

“Data from previous years shows us that there is a significant uptick in CS:GO betting at this time of year thanks to IEM Katowice. This is largely due to the quality and popularity of the teams involved, the high-profile nature of the event and intense nature of the competition – with so many matches being played over two weeks.

“The fact that the tournament is online is a pity but esports fans have shown a strong willingness to continue to back their favourite teams and try to pick winners in such tournaments throughout the past year. We expect that to be the case even more for IEM Katowice.”

A year for the underdogs?

Astralis are outright favourites to win another IEM Katowice title, with odds of 3.10 ahead of Team Vitality at 3.80. Heroic are third favourites at 5.00 while defending champions Na’Vi are available at 5.50.

But fans planning to bet on IEM Katowice, could be wise to keep an eye on the underdogs.

Zaburtov said: 

“I think it’s worth looking at some teams that have been very strong during warm-up tournaments. Complexity are on fire and available at odds of 23.00, while BIG at 9.5, Virtus.pro (13.25) and Gambit (31.00) look great value. Also, the underachievement of the top two teams – Vitality and Astralis – in recent weeks is hardly great preparation.

“We have seen evidence to suggest that online tournaments lead to more shock results, with a noticeable series of outcomes going as predicted by the odds.

“Online matches are more susceptible to technical issues such as latency, which can sometimes prove a leveller – like a football match on a bad pitch.

“There is also the fact that players are often in their own homes, as opposed to being cheered on by thousands of fans. This often brings out the best in experienced players, while lower-level players might crumble under the pressure. Perhaps playing online suits smaller teams because there is less pressure.

“This could be a good year for the underdogs.”

Want to find out more about how Luckbox is leading the way in esports betting? Don’t miss our recent interview with Quentin Martin, CEO of Real Luck Group, operator of Luckbox. 

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The much delayed release, from Polish publisher CD Projekt Red, had been one of the most anticipated of the year. However, just days after its release on 10 December, Sony has removed the title from its store and is offering refunds to customers.

Stocks in CD Projekt Red have plunged 30% since the game was released, and the company has said it is working hard to fix the issues with the dystopian title, and will be continuing to provide support and updates. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Will this be an apocalypse for CD Projekt Red, or will they be able to fix the issues before players lose patience? If they do manage to act quickly, the episode could actually end up benefiting the company through the massive awareness it generated for the title, but if this drags on much past Christmas, it could well be disastrous for what promised to be an incredible game. 

‘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 multi-year partnership renewal will see London-based IMG ARENA package live footage from the league for betting and gaming operators. 

Ekstraklasa paid record revenues to its clubs in 2019-20, and the league is set to grow from 16 to 18 teams from 2021-22, resulting in more matches and more live streaming content. 

Commenting on the news Executive Vice President and Managing Director of IMG ARENA, Freddie Longe, said:

“The Ekstraklasa is an ambitious organisation with an entertaining product. We are delighted to be extending our partnership and to stream a growing number of matches.

“Football is the world’s most popular sport, and we are committed to ensuring we have a high quality, diverse portfolio of content to engage fans across the globe.”

While President and CEO of Ekstraklasa, Marcin Animucki, added:

“IMG ARENA has played a vital role in helping our organisation drive revenues for our members with packaged, engaging content that sustains and builds interest in Ekstraklasa around the world. We take great pleasure in announcing the renewal of the partnership and look forward to building on this mutually beneficial collaboration.”

Staying with IMG ARENA, last month the company inked a long-term streaming deal with the World Snooker Tour (WST), while in October it secured worldwide betting rights for the LBA, the top tier of Italian basketball. 

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