Good morning! This is your weekly Esports Brief.

Big orders from McDonald’s this past week. Yesterday saw that company announce that it was broadening its partnership with Gen.G with an eye to now engage employees and gaming fans in select regions on both the west and east coasts. On the heels of its first successful esports activation in Southern California, the program will now expand to select D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Eastern Shore areas. The McDonald’s Crew League program will return with more than 200 employees across 70 Southern California locations already signed up to compete in EA Sports FIFA 21 or Super Smash Bros Ultimate. The second season of the SoCal McDonald’s Crew League will kick off on August 24th with a 6-week play-in tournament. The McDonald’s Crew League program in DC, Maryland, Virginia and Eastern Shores will launch on Aug. 24 with a five-week play-in style tournament.

In addition, FaZe Clan locked in a partnership with McDonald’s USA that will be anchored by a slate of content activations centered around diversity and inclusion, from capturing the diverse stories of FaZe Clan members and challenges in the growing gaming industry, to showcasing underserved and underrepresented youth. “McDonald’s is excited to partner with FaZe Clan to highlight the communities we serve and champion their passion points in a fun way,” said Christopher Mann, Owner/Operator and chair, McDonald’s USA Franchisee Marketing Committee. “Through this partnership, we’re proud to shine a light on the growing diversity of the gaming industry to positively impact the future of gaming for youth.”

Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Esports North American League is tapping the services of esports agency Damage to serve as the agency of record for the series, partnering on a slate of social activations designed to elevate the league globally. The final stage of the North American League kick in next month with ten teams competing at HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas.

The Pokémon Company mapped out the stream schedule for the upcoming Pokémon Players Cup 25th Anniversary Invitational, running Aug. 13 (beginning at noon) through Aug. 15. The invitational will showcase brackets for both the TCG and Pokémon Sword and Shield with the TCG tournament livestreamed on the PokemonTCG Twitch channel, while VGC will run on the primary Pokemon channel.

CSL Esports revealed a partnership with collegiate conferences America East Conference and West Coast Conference in addition to Canadian collegiate sports brand U SPORTS. The deals will look to forge competitive esports infrastructures for each of the properties with all three orgs now taking part in the NACE Starleague. CSL Esports will assist in the development and formalization of esports competition, forming of teams, leagues and schedules for newcomers.

Allied Esports and NASCAR are fueling up a new event tour that will bring gaming activations to racing fans this season. The Allied Esports Truck will make seven stops at NASCAR Cup Series race Midways and Fan Zones starting August 6-8 at Go Bowling at the Glen in Watkins Glen and concluding November 4-7 at the NASCAR Cup Series Championship in Phoenix. The 80-foot, 35-ton mobile gaming arena, which includes a main stage, caster booth, roof deck and full production capabilities, will host gameplay featuring Rocket League and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, as well as iRacing on simulators. “Gaming has had a massive impact on the world of NASCAR over the past year and a half – to the point where it is now undeniably part of the sport’s DNA in the digital age,” said Nick Rend, managing director of gaming, NASCAR. “With that in mind, as fans across the nation return to our race tracks this summer and fall, we believe it’s crucial that gaming plays a central role in that on-site NASCAR experience – and Allied Esports is helping us accomplish that in a truly unique way.”

The NBA 2K League announced that the 2021 NBA 2K League Playoffs Delivered with DoorDash will take place at Mavs Gaming Hub in Dallas. The opening round through the semifinals will run Aug. 26-28 and the Playoffs will culminate on Sept. 4. This will mark the first time that the NBA 2K League holds games in person since the 2019 NBA 2K League Finals in New York City. Games will be simulcast live at 5p each day on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch and YouTube channels, and will also be available on Dash Radio, ESRevolution, eGG Network in Southeast Asia, Loco in India, Sport1 in Europe and Tencent in China. For the first time in league history, the NBA 2K League will also implement a studio design featuring two stages allowing for simultaneous in?person games.

Halo Infinite’s esports ecosystem will support cross-platform play for both Xbox and PC players, according to 343 Industries with all of the game’s online tournaments set to be cross-play and cross-input. The series is tapping the talents of Esports Engine to oversee production. “Halo Infinite is a game that is more open and accessible to players than any prior Halo game and HCS is following suit,” 343 said. “With players competing on any platform as well as controller or mouse and keyboard, we’re hoping to have a deep competitive scene with fresh blood entering the scene at launch and beyond. On top of that, we’re working to ensure a better onsite event experience than ever before with our partners at Esports Engine.”

Riot Games’s LOL Esports is giving a facelift to the European Regional Leagues, Europe’s minor league infrastructure. The company announced that it had extended license deals with almost all of its current European Regional Leagues (ERLs) beginning in 2022. With teams in place, changes will include ERLs being grouped into one of two categories – Accredited ERLs and Non-Accredited ERLs, starting in 2022. While Riot will select which tier they are categorized as to begin with, every Non-Accredited ERL can apply to become an Accredited ERL at any time, provided they meet the relevant criteria. In addition, some leagues will become unified, with the Baltic league merging into the Polish ERL (Ultraliga) and the Dutch and Belgium leagues merging to form a new Benelux league. The company is also standardizing the prize money for both the accredited and non-accredited leagues and are increasing team subsidies in all ERLs while all ERL partners receive the right to enable co-streaming for all teams participating in a first division of an ERL provided it is during their own games and within Riot regulations.

For the past three years, Battle Royales have led gaming viewership across Facebook Gaming, Twitch, and YouTube Gaming. Titles like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty: Warzone have driven the genre’s viewership. Additionally, many of the top gaming streamers including NICKMERCS, TimTheTatman, and LazarBeam have built substantial fan bases by dominating a game in the BR genre. Today, with streamers changing their usual content, audience overlap between BR titles is heavily growing.

Here are some key takeaways:
· The audience overlap between Apex and Warzone increased 8 pts since January. Top Call of Duty: Warzone streamers like NICKMERCS and TimTheTatman recently switched to playing Apex Legends due to the persisting hacker problem.
· Apex Legends fans are less likely to watch other games: The overlap from Apex to Warzone audiences has actually decreased less than 1 pt since January.
· Fans of both Apex and Warzone have less interest in watching Fortnite streamers: audience overlap has decreased 3 pts and 4 pts respectively.

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.

Riot inked a monster deal with FTX to become the Official Cryptocurrency Exchange of the LCS. The record seven-year partnership with FTX represents the largest sponsorship agreement Riot has ever signed for an esports league. FTX branding will be placed on the LCS broadcast around League of Legends Gold. Player net worth, total team gold and gold graphs will all be presented by FTX. Additionally, FTX will directly sponsor the LCS Most Improved Player Award.

Logitech G signed on as an official partner of eNASCAR, and the Logitech G 923 will now become the official wheel and pedal of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. As part of the deal, Logitech G will also serve as the entitlement sponsor for the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series event, now called the Logitech G Challenge 100, at the virtual Michigan International Speedway on August 17.

Rogue and Kia unveiled a three-part video series featuring players from the Rogue League of Legends team in the League of Legends European Championship spotlighting the individual stories of Odoamne, Inspired, and Hans sama, “exploring what inspires them in their personal lives to push harder in the esports arena.” “Our collaboration with KIA continues to allow us creating fresh and never-before-seen content which we hope will inspire any esports enthusiast,” said Anna Baumann, EVP of Esports at ReKTGlobal.

Canadian whisky brand Crown Royal is partnering with Columbia Records and NBA2K teams Hawks Talon and Detroit Pistons GT to launch a music and gaming series titled The Crown Crossover, featuring Columbia Records artists such as Quinn XCII, Joey Bada$$, and CHASE B who will be playing NBA 2K against gaming influencers. Running each Wednesday through the end of August, The Crown Crossover is livestreamed and hosted on Crown Royal’s official Facebook page. Hosts include Jeff Eisenband and Phil Visu and will feature named such as iPodKingCarter, Aerial Powers, Erin Ashley Simon and Mike LaBelle as they compete against musicians.

NICKMERCS announced a sponsorship with Under Armour. According to Dot Esports, the content creator said he couldn’t share any plans regarding activations for the new deal, but stated that there would be “crazy stuff” and viewers would be “very impressed.”

Beverage brand NERD Focus is teaming with Beasley Esports to continue the company’s search to find & sign the next Rocket League Championship Series team. NERD Focus will feature a live broadcast to air for 8-hours. “It’s fantastic to see these Rocket League teams come together and compete for the chance to qualify for this new spot under Beasley Esports,” said Michael White, Beasley Esports’ Operations Director for the Houston Outlaws and General Manager for Beasley Rocket League. “With the extra energy and mental boost from our new sponsor NERD Focus, I’m hoping to see some of these players leveling up and really bringing their A-game for the next round.”

PLATFORMS

VENN has reportedly retained an accounting firm to create an “accelerated” acquisition process less than a year after its first broadcast, according to Dot Esports. After undergoing multiple models since it launched last year, Armanino LLP will now be tasked with finding the Los Angeles and New York-based startup an acquirer or a special financing partner. According to the report, VENN first started looking for additional funding, after raising $43 million in two separate rounds in 2019 and 2020.

Gen.G, in partnership with Korean hip hop icon Jay Park, rising star pH-1 and producer duo GroovyRoom unveiled the new original song and music video for “ALL IN” celebrating Gen.G’s League of Legends Champions Korea team. The song makes its its broadcast debut on Aug. 8 during Gen.G’s match against its T1. “It’s intriguing to see these young gamers train and go out to put it all on the line,’ said Park. “I’m always trying to explore new boundaries, and it’s a privilege to be able to do it with Gen.G With this song ‘ALL IN,’ I wanted to say to make sure you give it your all- whether you win or lose, you’ll have no regrets.”

Belong Gaming Arenas will open the doors to its first experiential gaming center in the U.S. in Pearland, a suburb of Houston, tomorrow and will partner with the Overwatch League’s Houston Outlaws on a series of fan-focused activities for local gamers to celebrate while attending Belong’s current and forthcoming locations in the Houston area. Activations include watch parties, meet-and-greet opportunities, and more, exclusively for the Belong community. Additionally, Belong will offer fans an opportunity to purchase an assortment of Houston Outlaws merchandise.

Immortals announced its entrance into Riot Games’ Wild Rift mobile esports, signing content creator and Wild Rift professional SeongHun “Hoon” Jang. “Our goal as an organization is to be the authentic and credible entry point for fans and brands to enter the gaming and esports industry,” said Jordan Sherman, President and Chief Commercial Officer of Immortals. “Our organization is in a position where we are contribution margin positive across all of our business units, and we want to invest in areas of growth to invite more fans to become part of our community. With that vision as our guiding principle, Hoon is the perfect gamer to introduce our fans to Wild Rift.”

Waverider and Galaxy Racer announced a global partnership to develop merchandise and stories from GXR’s content creators, including AboFlah, Dyler, and Naji Elqaq. Paul Roy, CEO of Galaxy Racer, stated: “We’re delighted to be partnering with a company with the leadership of Waverider. We’ve seen huge demand for a new style of consumer products and stories for our content creators, and their team has the vision and expertise to create something special for our roster’s fans.”

INDUSTRY

J. Allen Brack, President of Blizzard Entertainment, is departing his role at the company less than two weeks after news broke that the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing that claims harassment and discrimination within the company. In a statement released by Blizzard, the company stated that he will be replaced by a leadership team of Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra.

The Global Esports Federation opened the doors to its 100th Member Federation – Emirates Esports, representing the United Arab Emirates. In addition, the GEF called for Expressions of Interest (EOI) from Member Federations to host future Global Esports Games. The flagship Global Esports Games will be hosted in Singapore 2021, Istanbul 2022, and Riyadh 2023. Host cities for the Global Esports Games 2024-2027 will be announced during the Singapore 2021 Global Esports Games in December this year.

READYUP GAMES OF THE WEEK