Good morning! This is your weekly Esports Brief.

Evil Geniuses announced a partnership and investment with Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, a founding member of the English Football League. In conjunction with the partnership, Fosun, which acquired Wolves in 2016, agreed to a minority investment in Evil Geniuses, valuing the team at $255 million post-investment. With the move, Evil Geniuses will now become the first esports team with a physical presence in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Evil Geniuses will leverage Wolves’ Asian market expertise and local training facilities to further Evil Geniuses’ expansion in the region with Wolves branding featured on Evil Geniuses’ uniforms. The two will also work together to create English and Chinese language content, sponsorship opportunities and jointly branded merchandise.

“We are thrilled to partner with Wolves, a storied football club and strong sports and entertainment brand that aligns with our values and mission,” said Nicole LaPointe Jameson, Evil Geniuses’ Chief Executive Officer. “This deal will help power Evil Geniuses’ expansion into the Asian markets while also providing new capital to sign more world-class players and grow into new esports titles.”

“This is an incredibly exciting partnership for Wolves and Wolves Esports. We have very lofty ambitions in esports, and this partnership allows us to learn from the very best in Evil Geniuses,” said Wolves’ General Manager of Marketing and Commercial Growth, Russell Jones. “We’ll be pooling resources across analysis and performance as well as marketing and commercial to service and grow both organizations. We are looking forward to working with Evil Geniuses on a number of fan engagement initiatives over the next few months, and when travel routes allow, we will be encouraging our teams to visit and engage with one another.”

EA revealed Year 2 of the Apex Legends Global Series during EA Play Live. Kicking off in September, the circuit will debut a whole new ecosystem for both professional and amateur competitors, including a prize pool of $5 million and a return to global live events. ALGS Pro League, comprising 40 teams across five regions with the top 20 Apex Legends squads nabbing their spots in the Pro League via invite, while additional teams will fight for the remaining spots during Preseason Qualifiers. The ALGS Challenger Circuit will run parallel to the Pro League season for amateurs, providing aspiring Apex pros with the chance to qualify for the Pro League.

ESL Pro League finalized the list of teams who will be competing in season 14. Squads include Gambit, Heroic, Virtus Pro, BIG, FURIA, Team Spirit, and OG. That will join Natus Vincere, G2, Astralis, Ninjas in Pyjamas, FaZe Clan, Complexity, Vitality, Team Liquid, mousesports, Evil Geniuses, Entropiq, Renegades, ENCE, Bad News Bears, Sinners, Team oNe, and Fnatic as competitors this year.

Tencent Games revealed the map to the PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2021 during the World Invitational, running Nov. 2021 to January 2022. The new season will look to up the ante and offer a prize pool of $6 million with the PMGC 2021 split into the league and final stages.

The eSports WRC presented by TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will take place this summer in Belgium and Greece, according to NACOnn and KT Racing, as the world’s top players in WRC 9 and WRC 10. Following the postponement of the 2020 championship due to the pandemic, the final of the eSports WRC Championship will run Aug. 14 to coincide with Renties Ypres Rally Belgium. The final of the 2021 edition will take place around EKO Acropolis Rally Greece at the Athens Olympic Velodrome on Sept. 8.

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Currently, India is the region seeing significant growth in the esports and gaming industry. A recent report noted that Asia accounts for more than 54% of the $1 billion dollar global esports market. Moreover, YouTube Gaming, home to various top creators outside the U.S., is the primary platform for Indian content creators as all three of the top Indian streamers were part of the top YouTube Gaming streamers for Q2’21.
Here are key insights about the growing Indian gaming and esports market:
· BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA generated over 16M hours watched since its release for Android devices on July 2nd, 2021.
· Dynamo Gaming is currently the 2nd most-subbed Indian Youtube Gaming channel with over 9M subs.
· Within top peak Minecraft streamers for Q2’21, Ujjwal took the 10th spot with 226K peak viewers.

For more on how Stream Hatchet can help marketers keep ahead of trends within the video game and esports industries, visit us online at: www.StreamHatchet.com.

DreamHack partnered with Razer to present Danish DJ Martin Jensen as the main music performance during the upcoming DreamHack Beyond digital festival on July 31. The in-game, live performance features Martin Jensen performing in the DreamHack Beyond Razer-style environment through a technical solution from game designers Super Crowd and the Stockholm-based production company BME. Jensen will perform from a green-screen studio in Stockholm. “With the new experiential leap we are taking with Dreamhack Beyond, it is important to be able to stay rooted in our native DreamHack experience with unique live-music performances,” said DreamHack Vice President of Creative Justin Burnham. “The gig resonates well with Dreamhack’s DNA as we always have great live-music performances at our festivals. We are thrilled to have Razer and Martin Jensen be part of the exploration of streaming performances with us. This one is sure to be something special.”

HyperX entered into a two-year agreement with Belong Gaming Arenas, a subsidiary of global esports and technology company Vindex to outfit Belong’s U.S. experiential gaming centers with a range of products, including headsets, keyboards, mice and microphones. “Part of our mission at Belong is to provide our gamers with top-notch gaming experiences, which is why we’re partnering with the de facto leader in peripherals,” said Wim Stocks, Head of Partnership and Commercial, Belong Gaming Arenas. “By providing access to the same equipment that the pros use, we’re able to give our community a chance to take their gameplay to the next level.”

100 Thieves continues to go upscale, adding Lexus as the team’s first luxury auto partner, days after unveiling a clothing collaboration with Gucci. The 100 Thieves content house will be renamed the Lexus Content House, with Valkyae and Fuslie serving as Lexus ambassadors. “Since 1989, Lexus has been committed to be the visionary brand that anticipates the future for luxury customers. Honored to have Lexus as the official sponsor of the content house,” the organization said in a tweet.

FaZe Clan cooked up a partnership with Totino’s Pizza Rolls that will be anchored by a new FaZe Clan/Totino’s content series hosted by Lil Yachty aka “FaZe Boat” and features special guests like FaZe Temperrr, FaZe Adapt, FaZe Rug, FaZe Swagg, FaZe JSmooth and FaZe Booya. The content series, which was filmed last week on a Totino’s and FaZe Clan decked-out yacht in Marina Del Rey, will run in the fall on FaZe Clan’s social channels. “We are really thrilled to be partnering with Totino’s and launching this fun and exciting content series,” said Jeff Pabst, FaZe Clan Chief Revenue Officer. “At FaZe we are always looking for innovative and organic ways to integrate our talent with brands, and to have this content series anchored by Lil Yachty with special appearances by FaZe talent is a perfect example of that.”

Therabody, specializing in tech wellness and the creators of Theragun, inked a deal with NRG and the San Francisco Shock to serve as its Official Recovery Partner. Therabody will provide their players with “the solutions and education they need to excel in training, competition, and recovery, and outfit training facilities with Therabody’s full suite of products.” The deal marks Therabody’s first partnership in the gaming world.

TSM FTX renewed and broadened its partnership with Lenovo. Deal points see Lenovo Legion continue as the exclusive PC partner of the org’s teams and organization, in addition to serving as the exclusive provider of monitors for the teams.

Envy Gaming is getting into the World Chase Tag USA circuit with a new sponsorship of GNF, one of the top chase teams in North America. Airing Aug. 6, 2021 at 7p ESPN2, the two-hour primetime special of WCT USA’21, will feature fast-paced, high energy parkour-based tag competition between competing teams. “What we love about World Chase Tag is the high-speed gameplay and universal accessibility – just like anyone can pick up a controller to play video games, anyone can set out to be the best WCT player,” said Envy Gaming CEO Adam Rymer. “The atmosphere of sportsmanship and competition that WCT cultivates is a great fit for our Envy brand and we’re excited to expand our team sponsorship portfolio into new and emerging areas of entertainment that our fans can get excited about. We can’t wait to see ENVY GNF compete to bring home a trophy.”

Enthusiast Gaming, the parent company of Luminosity Gaming, signed on for an extension and expansion of its alliance with G FUEL with the 18-month sponsorship also including the launch of a new limited-edition G FUEL flavor. G FUEL’s logo will continue to be displayed on Luminosity Gaming’s jerseys. As well as on all official Enthusiast Gaming merchandise.

Red Bull agreed to join the VALORANT Champions Tour EMEA. There, Red Bull will present the top clutch moments to fans during Challengers Stage 3, the EMEA Playoffs and Last Chance Qualifiers. “We are delighted to expand the collaboration with one of our global partners of VCT to bring even more exciting content to Europe, Turkey and CIS.” says Zeynep Gencaga, Senior Manager, Business Development and Partnerships Europe and MENA. “Red Bull has been in the scene since the start of VCT and will now also be an official supplier for VCT EMEA. We look forward to more competitive and thrilling plays in the segment Red Bull Clutch Moments.”

Global esports organization Gen.G and PUMA announced a worldwide expansion to the brands’ existing partnership in South Korea, as PUMA becomes the official jersey of Gen.G’s Global pro teams and creators, including the Gen.G VALORANT players and creators in North America. “Over the last year, Puma has been an incredible brand partner,” said Gina Chung Lee, Chief Marketing Officer of Gen.G. “We are thrilled to expand globally- from their support of our pro teams to their partnership in initiatives like our Gen.G Foundation, we are proud to continue the story with our creators and teams in North America. Looking forward to cool merchandise moments!”

BLAST partnered with Razer to sponsor the esports tournament organizer’s first Apex Legends event, which ends on Aug. 1. The partnership will integrate Razer into the BLAST Titans tournament through a number of activations, including: product giveaways, player-led content opportunities, in-game branding and activation of the match and tournament MVP broadcast segment.

ESL Gaming locked in a new media rights deal with G4, allowing US and Canada esports fans to access ESL Pro Tour events via linear TV. G4 and Comcast NBCUniversal will bring viewers directly into the ESL action with highlights and cutdowns of select Pro Tour events with G4’s ESL Gaming coverage offering in English and aired in primetime slots. G4’s esports shows will now also feature highlights from ESL events. “We know there is a growing number of esports fans in North America and G4 is the perfect partner for us as we continue on our mission to reach new audiences,“ said Frank Uddo, Senior Vice President Media Rights at ESL Gaming. “We have hosted many successful events in North America already, and with this exciting partnership we will finally be able to provide all US and Canadian esports fans with access to ESL events via linear TV broadcasts as well.”

BLAST Premier announced a two-year deal with WePlay Esports to broadcast its global Counter-Strike tournament series exclusively in the CIS region. Under the nature of the deal, media holding company and esports tournament organizer WePlay Esports will own exclusive Russian language media rights to broadcast this year’s BLAST Premier Fall Groups (September 16-26), Showdown (October 12-17), Final (November 24-28) and World Final (December 14-19) and the entire 2022 season.

Team matchmaking service TEAMS.gg is expanding into VALORANT. While originally focusing on helping the thriving CS:GO community, TEAMS.gg will now offer the same free service to avid VALORANT players, marking the first significant expansion of the platform.

FaZe Clan and Nuke Squad drop the Olympic themed Nuke Squad Vol. 3 merchandise collection today, with the drop coming on the heels of Nuke Squad moving into a content house of their own in Los Angeles. The merchandise collection will feature items such as sweatpants, hoodie, t-shirt, bucket hat and more. “This is the Official Nuke Squad Volume 3 Olympic collection,” says FaZe Swagg. “It’s been incredible to see Nuke Squad take off and watching my brothers be welcomed into the FaZe community. I’m excited for fans to see Nuke Squad’s first collection as official members of FaZe!”

Nerd Street Gamers announced that esports team the Susquehanna Soniqs became the first professional organization to join its esports campus, The Block. The five-year partnership will allow the Soniqs to create a home within The Block, and train and grow their Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, VALORANT and PUBG teams. “Not only are we creating one of the industry’s largest gaming landmarks with The Block, but with the Soniqs joining our campus we’re also expanding Philadelphia’s gaming community to include an extremely talented pro organization,” said Jonathon Oudthone, Vice President of Localhost at Nerd Street Gamers. “With this partnership, we’re elevating our mission of bolstering esports’ competitive integrity while showcasing the synergies and benefits we can create for esports players and organizations as they look to find a home within Localhost facilities across the country.”

INDUSTRY

Nearly a week after news broke that the state of California was suing Activision Blizzard for sexual harassment and discrimination, employees at the publisher staged a walkout Wednesday to demand better working conditions for women and other marginalized groups within the company. Meanwhile, a slew of teams associated with the company’s esports endeavors also expressed their support for victims and colleagues fighting for change. The charges, which state that the company has a “pervasive ‘frat boy’ culture” in which female employees are sexually harassed and are paid and promoted less than their male counterparts, issued statements after the news broke condemning sexual harassment in the workplace but downplaying the allegations in the lawsuit as incorrect or old. Late Tuesday, after the announcement of Wednesday’s walkout and condemnation of the company’s response, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick emailed employees apologizing for the company’s “tone dead” reaction to the lawsuit, stating that he had asked the law firm WilmerHale to conduct a review of the company’s policies and procedures and that the company would investigate every allegation and terminate anyone found to have “impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences.”

BITKRAFT Ventures announced the BITKRAFT Diversity Commitment, a formal framework “reflecting BITKRAFT’s principles and approach to building success through a team featuring diverse genders, ethnicities, cultures, and nationalities.” The initiative outlines both short-and long-term goals which include achieving gender balance on the BITKRAFT team, better representation of diverse founders in the composition of portfolio companies, applying the Mansfield Rule during the hiring processes, and implementing comparable diversity guidelines for all BITKRAFT internship programs, summits, and events. Additionally, over 40 companies representing 90% of BITKRAFT portfolio companies have pledged to work toward promoting diversity and equality in how their companies design, distribute, and manage products and services.

Spurs Sports and Entertainment has made a “strategic investment” into mobile esports company Tribe Gaming. The investors group notes that the funds and partnership would open opportunities for cross-content collaborations, marketing opportunities and “shared strategic expertise.”

ROSTER MOVES

GameSquare Esports announced that sports agency Paradigm Sports, led by Audie Attar, joined its advisory board. With the move, “the Paradigm team will bring their deep expertise in traditional sports to drive the accelerated growth of esports” and join a board of advisors that also includes Tony Hawk and Jordan Belfort. “Paradigm Sports is a great company led by incredible people,” said Justin Kenna, CEO of GameSquare. “GameSquare is fortunate to have added the team to our advisor roster who are leading Paradigm Sports with some incredibly innovative work that puts their family of talent at the forefront of business. Their mantra of pushing to do what is best, and most profitable, for their families, their teammates, and their clients resonates strongly with all of us at GameSquare as we are building a global esports organization. I believe that the entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to success that permeates Paradigm’s business is a great fit with GameSquare and mirrors our values.”

READYUP GAMES OF THE WEEK

 

 

Trivia
The horror game Dead By Daylight includes a bevy of movie villains, including Leatherface, pictured above. What movie introduced the character? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city).

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question
In honor of the Olympics, name three of the four players with numbers pictured above from the 1992 game, Team USA Basketball. Answer: Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley and John Stockton. Kudos: Matt Deprey-C-SPAN/DC; Matt Sautter-WideOrbit/Harrisburg; Jason Colvin-RedPeg Marketing/DC; Lou Chalfant-MVP Index/DC; Creed Heilskov-ImOn Communications/Cedar Rapids; Jason Morrow-Toyota/Houston; Julie Schell/Chicago; Vincente Leon/San Antonio; Jaymz Wooden-Bottelsen American Dart Lines/Santa Maria; Jim Himmel-TCB Media/San Clemente; Anne Wettig-Fox Sports S&P/LA; Greg Dudsic/Venice