SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION
The Monster Energy Bellator MMA Fight Series is set to hit Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20 during the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race weekend, serving up several MMA bouts throughout the afternoon ahead to the start of the on-track racing action. All bouts are set to take place staring at 3:30p at the Monster Energy display in the Charlotte Motor Speedway Fan Zone. Fans will also have the opportunity to meet Tito Ortiz and Dan Henderson on May 19 at 3p.
WWE announced plans to tangle with COMBOS for an in-store promotion starting Friday. The deal marks the first time the two brands will team up for this type of activation, which will offer fans a chance to win WWE prizes, such as tickets, gear and WWE experiences.
Organizers of the ShopRite LPGA Classic are dangling the last sponsor exemption to the winner of a Twitter vote being held this week. ESPN writes that ShopRite officials teamed with MVP Index to pinpoint top female golfers in social media who don’t already have a spot in the event with finalists set to include: Blair O’Neal, Sharmila Nicollet, Carly Booth and Susana Benavides.
IMG and Mandalay Sports Media revealed a new joint venture which will see the two companies work together to develop, finance and produce a slate of feature films focused on sports shaping broader cultural narratives. The companies will look to produce at least ten feature films over the next three – five years from their active development slate, which will be distributed via streaming platforms and traditional theatrical release. The first project to debut as part of this deal will be The Art of Fielding, based on the New York Times Bestseller by Chad Harbach about a small school on the shore of Lake Michigan, where baseball star Henry Skrimshander search for big league stardom goes awry.
The PGA Tour and The Players Championship announced that the 17th hole will be broadcast live in VR with footage available using a Samsung Gear VR headset via the PGA Tour VR Live app with streaming also available on Twitter. The experience will be provided by a collaboration between PGA and Intel, using Intel’s True VR technology. “We are excited that THE PLAYERS Championship will host the PGA TOUR’s first live virtual reality production,” said Rick Anderson, PGA TOUR Chief Media Officer. “The PGA TOUR has experimented with virtual reality content for nearly two years. We tested Intel’s True VR technology on a live basis at the Genesis Open in February, and were very pleased with the quality. We decided that executing a live VR experience on one of the most dramatic holes in golf was something that our fans would love, and the fact that we are partnering with Twitter to deliver 360 video will offer tremendous scale.”
The Call of Duty World League Championship has locked in on the Amway Center in Orlando, with play slated to run from Aug. 9 – 13. The will mark the event’s first time in the East Coast, as 32 teams vie for a prize pool of $1.5 million. “The CWL 2017 season is already shaping up to be the biggest one yet,” said Rob Kostich, EVP and general manager of Call of Duty, Activision. “The live events all over the world, including Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, Paris and Sydney have been incredible, and the Global Pro League has already featured intense match ups with teams going after the big Stage 1 prize purses. So, the CWL Champs in August becomes even more fitting as the culmination of the best that Call of Duty esports has to offer this year. We can’t wait for Orlando.”
The Australian Football League became with latest organization to tap into esports, and will look to run a league tournament at Etihad Stadium with a call for AFL clubs to sponsor or create their own eSports teams, according to The Age.
ELeague will see Group C take action for the Street Fighter V Invitational on TBS this Friday at 10p. Group C will feature six contenders – Joshua “WOLFKRONE” Philpot, Ai “Fuudo” Keita, Kun “Xian” Xian Ho, Ryan “FChamp” Ramirez, Joe “MOV” Egami and Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi.
Mobile esports company Skillz announced that it has doubled its revenue run-rate to over $100 million in the past eight months. Since June 2016, the Skillz user base has grown by more than 32 percent to 11.9 million with the number of female players growing from 49% last June to 53% today. Meanwhile, June saw the average Skillz player competed for over 50 minutes per day, which swelled to over 61 minutes a day for a gain of 5%.
Publisher Wavedash Games raised $6 million in Series A funding, led by March Capital Partners. The company, founded by game developers from EA, Riot Games, and Blizzard, will leverage the financing to grow its team and complete the development of its new Platform Fighter game. “The Platform Fighter community is one of the most vibrant in gaming,” said Matt Fairchild, Wavedash’s CEO and co-founder. “But it has yet to reach its full potential. We’re following the trail blazed by Riot Games and Valve by bringing community passion together with world class developer talent.”
PENTA Sports locked in stake-to-play gaming platform Epulze to serve as the first exclusive sponsor for its Dota 2 team, per TEO. The platform allows players to bet on their own matches using either real money, or the platform’s own Epulze Emeralds currency.
FOX Sports formally named Alexis Ginas to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Cross-Platform Solutions, where she will be charged with shaping a 360-degree cross-platform approach to monetizing FOX Sports’ live event and studio content across linear and non-linear platforms.
Entercom Communications tapped Mike Dee to serve as President of Entercom Sports, a newly developed position focused on creating value for the company’s sports business enterprise. Dee most recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer for the San Diego Padres.
Juventus/AS Monaco at 2p on FS1.
