ELEAGUE and the US Air Force inked an expanded multi-tournament marketing partnership for the ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2018 in a deal that will see Air Force serve as ELEAGUE’s first-ever official armed forces partner across all platforms. The deal sees Air Force activate across a number of branded integrations and placements, highlighting the strategy and skillset recruits take on as part of the Air Force with activation that includes custom video content from various bases; “Tactics” Presented by Air Force and the CS:GO Premier 2018 Championship Trophy presented by Air Force.
Meanwhile, the US Air Force also locked in a deal with Cloud9’s CS:GO team, with activation kicking in at the ELEAGUE event and running through May 2019. The deal will see the Air Force logo appear on the team’s jerseys in addition to working with the team to create content featuring the squad learning about military branch, as well as sponsoring the team’s monthly web series.
This week’s deal between The Madison Square Garden Company and PepsiCo had esports ramifications as the partnership, which kicks in on Sept. 1, will see PepsiCo become the exclusive non-alcoholic beverage and salty snack partner across various MSG properties, including Counter Logic Gaming. PepsiCo’s exclusive marketing rights to MSG properties will include mobile, TV and digital assets, in-venue signage, as well as the right to create retail promotional opportunities at external points of sale.
Mountain Dew is teaming up with Rocket League to launch a new tournament for amateur gamers that will be known as the Game Fuel League. The online tournament will take place in the UK, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands as amateur teams of three from each country will compete in rounds to win a qualifying place, with each nation sending their winning team to the European grand finale at the Insomnia Gaming Festival, courtesy of Mountain Dew. The winning prize is a multi-day training boot-camp with Team Dignitas at their headquarters at the Philadelphia 76ers basketball training facility in the United States.
Spirit Halloween and Spencer’s scoped out a new partnership with Epic Games to create a range of officially licensed Fortnite costumes, cosplay, accessories and gear, in a deal brokered by IMG. The new Fortnite branded collection will feature costume skins and accessories. Fans can also snag game-replica weapons and gear to complete their look.
Gamer blockchain marketplace GamerToken forged a partnership with Tempo Storm in a move that will see signature skins from the team implemented into the GamerToken Fiesta MMO Blockchain Beta and skins coming to future GamerToken partner games down the road.
Mercedes-Benz is partnering with ProGaming Italia and Sony Interactive Entertainment Italy to launch the Gran Turismo Sport E-Cup by Mercedes. Online qualifying for the event runs through Sept. 16, in addition to two live qualifying sessions. The first will take place during the Italian Grand Prix weekend from Aug. 30-Sept. 2 and the second “Last Chance” qualifier running at ESL esports arena at the Milan Games Week 2018 on Oct. 5–6. A total 12 racers will compete for the championship on Oct. 7, the last day of Milan Games Week.
GEICO detailed plans to launch the GEICO Gaming Ambassador program, tapping four influencers who reflect “the best values the gaming and esports communities can offer. Brian Kibler, Imane “Pokimane” Anys, Jeffrey “TrumpSC” Shih and Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang will be doing posts, commentary, and answering questions on Twitter, Instagram, and Twitch.
Xfinity is partnering with Activision to offer free access codes for its Internet customers starting tomorrow. The code will be for the Multiplayer Private Beta of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, marking the second year that the company has offered early access to a major title. The Multiplayer Beta will be available to play August 3-6 for PlayStation 4 users and August 10-13 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC users.
Last week FanAI compared the Twitter communities of three popular genres in esports: First-Person Shooters (FPS), Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBA), and Fighting Games (FGC), and found very little overlap. This week FanAI, compared communities with a large crossover. One of the greatest percentages of overlap was found between the relatively new Battle Royale community and the long standing FPS (First Person Shooter) community. One of the reasons for this could be that many popular players and streamers of Battle Royale games began gaming through FPS titles, leading their fans to also switch to consuming content of both genres. With many upcoming tournament events for FPS and Battle Royale game titles, it could be beneficial to stakeholders and potential sponsors to keep a close eye on the overlap in the viewing audiences.
Esports staple Immortals recruited Meg Whitman, former CEO of Hewlett Packard and ebay, where she will now serve as an investor in the company. The deal marks her first in esports, and she has now been named to Immortals’ Board of Directors, joining AEG, Lionsgate, the Milken Family, and Steve Kaplan as major shareholders and members of the Company’s Board. “We are thrilled to have Meg Whitman join our team,” said Noah Whinston, Immortals’ Founder and CEO. “She brings directly relevant, tremendously valuable experience, a global network, and deep, authentic roots in the technology sector. Our entire Board and management team will benefit from her complementary skills, expertise, and relationships, both immediately and over the long term.”
Meanwhile, TSM ‘s parent company Swift locked in a major financing round, valued at $37 million in Series A funding, according to Forbes. Ethan Kurzweil of Bessemer Venture Partners leads a group of investors that also include three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry, NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young and Yahoo cofounder and billionaire Jerry Yang with the investment also covering Swift’s other business segments, including its influencer content network and its analytic web services like FortniteMaster and ProBuilds.
Team Envy and the Dallas Fuel hitched their wagons to the upcoming SMU Guildhall, with eGency Global announcing that partnership for the inaugural event this fall. Fans at OP Live Dallas Powered by Team Envy and the Dallas Fuel will have the opportunity to meet and interact with Fuel head coach Aaron “Aero” Atkins, Dallas Fuel general manager Mat “TazMo” Taylor and even Envy Gaming owner Mike “Hastr0” Rufail. Staff will be available for autographs, coaching sessions for fans, educational sessions and more.
Sony Crackle delivers a new esports docu-series tomorrow in partnership with NRG Esports and Complex Networks. Subsequent three to five-minute episodes will then come out on Monday, July 30, Wednesday, August 1, and Wednesday, August 15 with the teaser offering a first-look at the journey of 21-year-old player Eduardo Deno (aka HookGangGod), in the final month leading up to EVO. Simultaneously, Sony Crackle will host a virtual Twitch livestream event to kick-off the series on July 27.
Formula 1 and Facebook are teaming up for a documentary series surrounding the recent inaugural F1 Esports Series Pro Draft. The slate will go behind the scenes with access to the drivers and pro teams through a four-part series and is now available to view on the platform with episode one seeing Tom Deacon joined by F1 commentator Jack Nicholls “as the first ever F1 Esports pro draft gets underway at the iconic Silverstone Circuit. 40 of the world’s best sim drivers are put through a variety of challenges over the course of three days to see who has what it takes to join a Professional F1 team. Up first: The Sim Racing challenge.” Future episodes will run on Aug. 22, Sept. 5 and Sept. 26.
Army Entertainment, a part of the US Army’s Installation Management Command, locked in a world-wide esports video game championship series for Street Fighter V that will be open to all active-duty Army service men and women. Four garrisons’ tournaments will be streamed live to a global audience exclusively on Twitch. The tournament consists of eight garrisons, each hosting a local tournament on post at their Army Morale Welfare and Recreation Warrior Zones with live streamed tournaments that include Fort Bliss on July 28, Fort Gordon on Aug. 11, Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Aug. 18 and Fort Wainwright on Aug. 25. Professional Fighting game shoutcasters and Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Jones, an avid gamer and fellow Soldier, will commentate the tournament. The competition is sponsored by USAA and MGM Resorts.
Tankee Inc., the newly formed Austin-based media company, announced the launch of Tankee, described as “the first safe, digital destination for kids ages 6-to-12 years-old to watch gaming videos.” The on-demand entertainment platform hosts age-appropriate gaming videos in one location and features a diverse lineup of curated and licensed gaming content through its unique partnerships with videos built around games such as Minecraft, ROBLOX, Rocket League and more. Popular influencers joining the Tankee video network reach a collective social media following of 50 million and those featured on the platform include CutePlay, JeromeASF, NyteOwl, Speedy, Thinknoodles and ThnxCya.
ESL announced that Jonas Vikan will depart the company, where he served as Tournament Director, with Alexander Nehr tapped to take over the role. Nehr has been with the company for 11 years, taking on various positions in league operations and product.
