Hyundai and Italian soccer club Atletico Madrid signed a new partnership in which the South Korean car manufacturer will sponsor the La Liga club, replacing Alfa Romeo as the team’s automotive partner. For the deal’s duration, which will run until 2021, the company will provide cars for the club, while their logo will be placed on the team’s shirt sleeves. The agreement comes two days after Hyundai signed a similar partnership with English Premier League club Chelsea.
Comcast and Activision partnered to provide gamers with a chance to play the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Multiplayer before its official release on October 12. As of yesterday and continuing through the end of August, gamers can enter an online sweepstakes for a chance to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Multiplayer at select Xfinity stores in Washington D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Seattle, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Atlanta. As part of the promotion, Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward, an avid gamer, will join players at a new Xfinity location in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to play alongside the city’s sweepstakes winners. Hayward will also partner with Xfinity on other gaming and Esports initiatives throughout the year.
The Players’ Tribune and SELF are partnering to create a series of original content focused on women across a wide range of sports. Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, who was the first Muslim-American to wear a hijab while competing in the Olympics, will serve as executive producer of the multi-episode video series. Content will include video and personal essays celebrating the triumphs and struggles of women in sports. Titled The Playing Field, the program will premiere this fall on SELF’s and The Player’s Tribune’s channels.
The New York Jets will debut their first all-access Facebook Watch Series on Tuesday, June 19. One Jets Drive: The Road to Training Camp is a six-episode series offering an inside look at the seven months between the end of the 2017 season and the beginning of the team’s 2018 Training Camp. Airing every Tuesday through July 24, the series can be viewed at facebook.com/onejetsdrive. In addition, segments will be featured on newyorkjets.com, the team’s YouTube page and on Twitter.
Oculus is streaming a handful of FIFA World Cup matches in virtual reality (VR) for free. Starting with Sunday’s face-off between Mexico and Germany, Facebook-owned Oculus will stream four games via its social co-viewing app Oculus Venues. Other matches to be streamed via Venues include Portugal vs. Morocco on June 20, Brazil vs. Costa Rica on June 22 and England vs. Panama on June 24. Games can be viewed via the Venues app on Oculus Go and Gear VR.
The NBA 2K League, which began its inaugural season on May 1, has set a deadline of June 29 for NBA teams looking to participate in the league’s 2019 season. There are 30 teams overall and currently, 17 are participating, Esports Insider reported. The league’s first 17 teams have paid $750,000 and committed to a three-year participation. No further details on whether the buy-in will be larger going into the second season, according to the report.
GAMURS says it has raised $2.2M in funding from angel investors and Allium Capital. The Esports media network plans to utilize the new influx of capital to target a series of initiatives, including the expansion of Dot Esports, the website it operates for coverage of competitive gaming.
World Cup: Spain/Portugal – on FOX at 2p
