Good morning! This is your weekly Esports Brief.

With virtual racing taking center stage as people hunker down to avoid the pandemic, NBC Sports announced plans to offer the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge, a live, virtual racing event featuring a field of NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers on Saturday with the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. The event takes place on Saturday at 2:30p on NBCSN and mark the inaugural INDYCAR iRacing event to appear on NBCSN. More than two dozen INDYCAR drivers are expected to compete in this weekend’s INDYCAR iRacing Challenge, including five-time series champion Scott Dixon, two-time and reigning series champion Josef Newgarden, and 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud. NBC Sports’ lead INDYCAR broadcast team of Leigh Diffey (play-by-play), Paul Tracy (analyst), and Townsend Bell (analyst) will call the action.

2K, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are rolling out the “NBA 2K Players Tournament,” an NBA 2K20 gameplay tournament between 16 current NBA players. Competition starts Friday on ESPN and ESPN2, with players – who include top seeds Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks –competing in a single-elimination, player-only tournament on Xbox One. The winner will be crowned champion and select a charity beneficiary to receive a $100,000 donation “We are excited to tip off the first ‘NBA 2K Players Tournament’ in partnership with the NBPA and 2K, continuing an ongoing effort to stay connected with NBA fans around the world, while also giving back in this time of need,” said Matt Holt, NBA SVP of Global Partnerships.

FOX Sports continues to double down in esports racing, announcing the launch of World of Outlaws iRacing from the virtual Dirt Track at Charlotte stating tonight at 8p on FS1. The race marks the beginning of a weekly FS1 series of iRacing events across multiple disciplines and various virtual racetracks. This week’s World of Outlaws iRacing event features stars from multiple series, including Brad Sweet (WoO), David Gravel (WoO), Bobby Pierce (DIRTcar Racing), Scott Bloomquist (WoO), Kyle Larson (NASCAR), Christopher Bell (NASCAR), Cruz Pedregon (NHRA) and Ron Capps (NHRA). For Wednesday’s first event, Adam Alexander hosts, with Johnny Gibson, “The Voice” of the World of Outlaws, calling the action. NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Jeff Gordon and NASCAR CUP SERIES driver Clint Bowyer, who owns a Dirt Late Model race team, provide commentary.

Meanwhile, the weekend’s eNASCAR Pro Invitational iRacing Series event from a virtual Texas Motor Speedway, drew 1.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen, breaking the record for eSports TV viewership set bv the previous week’s race. The previous record for eSports viewership on TV was 903,000 for the March 22 race from a digital Homestead-Miami Speedway. That race also exposed NASCAR to new viewers, bringing in 255,000 viewers who hadn’t yet watched a NASCAR Cup Series race in 2020, according to Nielsen. The org reports that as of Friday of last week, races were carried across 149 countries, via 18 partnerships. That represents over 200 million households outside of the US.

Continuing the racing theme, FloSports announced that it will exclusively live broadcast an all-new iRacing competition series each week throughout April featuring some of the top drivers in dirt racing. Debuting this week exclusively on the FloRacing platform starting Thursday, at 9p, the 2020 AMSOIL USAC iRacing Challenge Presented By NOS Energy Drink will see the stars of USAC Racing competition going head-to-head against one another on the world’s leading online racing simulation platform.

Use this time to get ahead of the curve! Cynopsis Sports, Esports Business Summit and the Nevada Esports Alliance are teaming up to offer our latest webinar, The New Opportunity: Esports Betting, taking place Tuesday, April 7 at 1:30p ET. All eyes on are this industry, and hear from the drivers who will break down the state of the business, pros and cons of esports wagering, what titles could be next to hit the sportsbooks, who publishers and leagues will benefit, and more! Click here to sign up.

ESL reports that the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2020 saw the esports tournament surpass the 1M peak viewership mark (excl. China) to make the first-ever ESL Masters Championship as the most successful CS:GO non-major tournament of all time. The event clocked 18.3 million hours watched, with peak CCU hitting 1,017,337, up 38.4% over ESL One Cologne.

Psyonix unveiled a $300,000 Rocket League Series tournament for April, held entirely online with each of the four regions participating – North America, Europe, Oceania and South America. Eight teams overall will take part.

More scheduling changes due the coronavirus. Overwatch League is being forced to abandon all of its homestands for the remainder of the season, announcing that weeks 14-27 will now be fully played online. “Players, teams, staff and production personnel may continue to compete and work from locations of their choosing, safely – without any fan attendance, travel, or unnecessary interpersonal contact – and in accordance with current health and safety recommendations and governmental mandates,” the company stated.

The trio of the Pokemon World Championships, QuakeCon and ComboBreaker also fell to the wave of cancellations and will not be rescheduled this year. “The COMBO BREAKER team is gutted to announce that, following government guidance and our own judgment regarding COVID-19, COMBO BREAKER 2020 is cancelled. We recognize the significant impact this decision has on our attendees, partners, sponsors, staff, venue, and community, but believe it is currently the only move to make. May we collectively make it through this difficult time as passionately as when we all began.”

In addition, BLAST Premier, the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) competition series, announced that it would be playing the remainder of its Spring events online-only.

ESL is deepening ties with PUBG MOBILE, partnering up to establish a new esports program that will give players a chance to battle their way to a share of a $5 million prize pool. The all-new format will be part of the PUBG MOBILE 2020 esports ecosystem. ESL will support in the delivery including building a brand new, innovative studio, exclusively dedicated to PUBG MOBILE esports in Katowice that will become the home of offline matches once all parties are advised that it is safe to do so by the relevant global health organizations. As part of the agreement ESL becomes a commercial partner for the PUBG MOBILE Esports Program in 2020. ESL will, together with PUBG MOBILE, enhance media rights as well as solidifying brand partnerships to set the foundation for a long and successful competition system for teams and partners.

Motorsport Games announced a partnership with Codemasters and the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy to create the World RX Esports Invitational Championship. The series will be held on the dates of selected rounds of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy that have been postponed with the first race, the Barcelona World RX Esports Invitational, held on April 19 using DiRT Rally 2.0 on PC via Steam. A number of the official World RX drivers will be taking part in the championship and fans around the world will have the opportunity to earn a place on the grid against these stars.

Gaud-Hammer Gaming Group, Ultimate Gaming Championship, and Beasley Esports are teaming up for Shutdown Showdown, an online, national Apex Legends charity tournament to promote and reward those fighting against the spread of COVID-19 by staying home. The five-week online tournament taking place runs through April 28 and sees teams of three compete against one another in Apex Legends custom server. A total of 40% of each registrant’s fee will be donated to the No Kid Hungry campaign, a campaign working to get kids the meals they need, during school closures and all year long. As a Media & Content Outreach Partner, Beasley Esports will collaborate with UGC and G3 on content initiatives for both broadcast and social media, as well as providing media coverage from its esports and gaming platform, CheckpointXP.

The British Esports Association is ramping up its livestreaming content, running a slate of streaming activities and shows on its Twitch channel, with three shows planned every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Going forwards, the British Esports Twitch channel will feature masterclass speakers, takeovers, guest panels, activities from British Esports game advisers, Women in Esports content, community challenges and more.

As streaming has seen substantial growth this year, publishers have been battling for larger shares of the market. Game launches and industry trends shift the standings but which publisher has had the lion’s share as of late? This week, Stream Hatchet investigates week-over-week cross-platform hours watched of the top video game publishers since the start of the year.
· The sampled publishers grew a combined 71% in hours watched from January 1 – March 31.
· Riot Games had the biggest share in March by generating over 165 million hours watched across Twitch, YouTube, Mixer, and Facebook.
· Activision grew their share by about 322% from February to March largely due to the success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s launch of Warzone.
For more information, please visit www.streamhatchet.com or contact [email protected].

Turtle Beach expanded its partnership with NRG Esports following an initial partnership with NRG’s Chicago Huntsmen CDL Franchise. The expanded agreement now includes more of NRG’s roster of teams and players, with Turtle Beach serving as their official gaming audio partner. ROCCAT, Turtle Beach’s PC brand, is now NRG’s official gaming accessories partner for keyboards, mice, and other PC peripherals. “I’m thrilled to bring NRG, Turtle Beach, and their new PC brand ROCCAT together this year,” said Hector Rodriguez, Co-CEO, NRG Esports. “I have such an incredible history working with Turtle Beach and wanted to bring that legacy with me as I started my new journey with NRG.”

Celsius Holdings, maker of the leading global fitness drink, CELSIUS, will be partnering with NASCAR Cup Series Driver Michael McDowell for the April 5th Bristol Motor Speedway iRacing Series Race. “I think that this weekend’s Pro Invitational Series race from virtual Bristol Motor Speedway is going to require a lot of concentration and stamina. Some people might think that just because this is a virtual race, that it will be relatively easy to compete in. However, the fact of the matter is that it still takes a lot of focus to be able to push you car to its limits, while trying your best not to crash with 35 other cars all around you.” said McDowell.

Activision Blizzard announced deals with Akshon Esports and HyperX as partners for Overwatch League. HyperX will act as the official memory partner of the league. Akshon Esports will now provide highlights of league matches.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is launching the 2020 Chipotle Challenger Series featuring online Qualifying and Finale competitions throughout 2020. To promote the series further, Chipotle has added an official team partnership with 100 Thieves’ Matt “Nadeshot” Haag, and Brooke “BrookeAB” Bond, as well as TSM’s Myth and streamers Jack “CouRage” Dunlop and JERICHO. The Finale will be shown on Twitch on April 25. Finale champions will win $25,000 cash and $25,000 to donate to COVID-19 relief efforts, as well as an exclusive card that grants winners a year of free Chipotle.

Rally Cry announced that it raised $1.2 million to bring organized competitive multiplayer gaming programs with funding from Mike and Amy Morhaime (Blizzard Entertainment cofounder and VP of global esports for Blizzard, respectively), Kevin Lin (cofounder and former COO of Twitch), Marc Merrill (cofounder and CEO of Riot Games), and others. The company was founded by Adam and Tyler Rosen, who founded Tespa.

Zaxby’s signed on as the Official Match Time Meal for the Florida Mayhem and team events. The partnership will also feature some tailgating and in-store activities later this year. With more than 900 total locations, and nearly 100 in Florida, Zaxbys’ chain of fast-casual restaurants is best known for its chicken wings, chicken fingers and signature sauces. “In these difficult times, we’re thrilled to have a versatile partner in Zaxby’s, that could adapt from live event activations to online activities for fans watching the broadcast,” said Ben Spoont, CEO and co-founder of Misfits Gaming Group. “Florida Mayhem fans will be able to take part in Zaxby’s competitions and deals while watching matches from the safety of their own homes.”

Speaking of the chain, the High School Esports League also announced a partnership with Zaxby’s for a marketing promotion. Zaxby’s will award prizes for the HSEL’s Spring Major 2020 championship series.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board approved betting on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s ESL Pro League Season 11: North America across three wager types, allowing all licensed bookmakers throughout the state to post and accept wagers on the tournament for: head to head, winner of each match, and overall season winner. Match results must be based on a “permissible source” that complies with respective regulations and all applicable audit procedures.

DraftKings is expanding its wings in the esports space, announcing a fantasy contest for Counter Strike: Global Offensive that will complement its League of Legends offering. Reportedly covering both ESL and Flashpoint players, lineups contain six players – one captain and five flex spots – with a maximum of three players allowed from any one team.

Mobile games platform Skillz announced a new fundraising initiative with the American Red Cross. Through proceeds from mobile esports tournaments, Skillz will help the American Red Cross ensure hospital shelves are stocked with lifesaving blood for patients in need during the coronavirus emergency. “Due to the coronavirus outbreak, blood drives continue to be cancelled at an alarming rate — about 8,000 so far — but we continue to urge blood drive hosts to maintain scheduled blood drives whenever possible,” said Jennifer Adrio, Executive Officer for the Northern California Coastal Region at the American Red Cross. “Proceeds from Skillz will help the Red Cross continue to deliver its lifesaving mission nationwide due to this public health emergency.”

TEAMS

Gen.G is partnering with the University of Kentucky for an NBA 2K tournament on Twitch, running Apri 10-14. The “Hoops at Home” NBA 2K20 tournament will offer all of “Big Blue Nation” with the opportunity to put their gaming skills to the test and potentially get the chance to play against a former or current basketball star on UK’s Twitch channel with the goal to connect and unify the community while at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, while delivering new content.

Misfits Gaming is launching two new live broadcast shows around the LEC starting this weekend. The Misfits Warmup show will run for 30 min before LEC ready check starts for each day of broadcast, featuring segments and special guests. After LEC’s Post Game Lobby segment each day, we’ll wrap things up with the Misfits Cooldown, where players and staff will be discussing the games and breaking down the biggest moments. Content kicks off on March 27 on the Misfits Twitch channel.

Tribe Gaming raised over $1M in its first round of investment capital. Investors include celebrity and industry leaders Gordon Hayward of the NBA’s Boston Celtics, mobile gaming veteran Kristian Segerstrale, Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro) of the WWE, and angel investor Victor Krahn, who will also serve as strategic advisors to Tribe. “I’ve been an NBA All-Star and made it to the NCAA championship, but I still get a rush when I’m taking down my enemy’s towers in a game of Clash,” said Gordon Hayward, NBA player for the Boston Celtics. “Tribe is about celebrating mobile gaming, whether it’s by cheering your team on the sidelines or watching your favorite streamers on your couch. I’ve been a mobile gaming fan for a long time, and I can’t wait to help bring those experiences to more people around the world.”

 

Riot’s Valorant finally opens its doors on April 7, when the closed beta launches. The beta will be available to players in Canada, Europe, Russia, Turkey, and the US. The publisher held an online capture event over the weekend, allowing key influencers, streamers, pro players and other content creators to sample the game.

Japan’s government unveiled a strategy to expand its esports plans as a way to boost the economy. according to The Japan Times. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will work with companies and legal experts to develop guidelines for promoting Japan’s esports industry.

The International Esports Federation landed four more countries to its growing plate of NGBs. The org announced that Colombia, Turkey, Ukraine and Kazahstan confirmed their participation in the in South Korean-based federation.

ROSTER MOVES

Infront Sports & Media named Andre Flackel as its head of gaming and esports. He joins from Legardere Sports, where he co-founded its esports division.

On This Week:
2014: The world is a stage for the Google Maps Pokémon Challenge.

Trivia
Name the five WWE superstars (above) who appeared on the cover of the WrestleMania 2000 game. (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
Name the game pictured last week. Answer: Space Invaders. Kudos: Jayden Gale/Sydney; Chris Davies-Virgin/London; Paul Sucec-Disney/NY; Brian Traynor-Endeavor/NY; Rob Casalaina-ITN/NY; Lisa Ciancarelli-CBS Television/NY; Lorin Halpert-Barcraft United/Toronto; Matt Sautter-WideOrbit/Harrisburg; Glen Ross/Richmond; Rick Dascher-WarnerMedia Studios/Atlanta; Jaymz Wooden-Bottelsen American Dart Lines, Inc/Santa Maria; Alec Eckert/Las Vegas; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA