Category: News

South Korean Esports Team Wins League of Legends World Championship; Millions Watching Online

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Tech Xplore: “More than 6,000 mostly young spectators watched at a Shanghai stadium and millions tuned in online to see Damwon Gaming win the League of Legends world championship on Saturday.”

“The South Korean team beat Suning, the surprise finalists from China, 3-1 to claim one of the most prestigious titles in eSports.”

“Spectators were limited to 6,300 because of social distancing and those lucky enough to secure a seat had to wear a face mask to prevent coronavirus infections.”

“League of Legends’ developer Riot Games had estimated that 100 million would watch across the globe. Inside the stadium, spectators—many favouring China’s Suning—saw the action unfold on two giant screens.”

First Cloud9 All-Women Esports Team for Valorant

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Venture Beat: “Esports organization Cloud9 will field its first all-women esports team in Riot Games’ Valorant esports tournaments.”

“The Los Angeles-based Cloud9, which runs a number of esports teams for games like League of Legends and Fortnite, will partner with AT&T in creating more opportunities for women and making competitive gaming more inclusive. The team will debut at Riot’s First Strike tournament qualifiers starting today.”

“Cloud9 has been doing some enlightened work in an esports industry that has grown up as both toxic and male-centric. Back in May, Cloud 9 teamed up with Kaiser Permanente to improve mental health in the U.S. gaming community. These moves are signs of the mainstreaming of esports, video games, diversity, and mental wellness efforts, Cloud9 senior marketing VP Kristen Salvatore said in an interview with GamesBeat.”

TikTok Partners With Esports Team Tundra

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Reuters: “Chinese short-form video platform TikTok has continued its expansion into the esports industry by signing up as the new principal partner of London-based esports organization Tundra.”

“As part of the new partnership, which comes in line with the release of the popular video game FIFA 21, TikTok will be displayed on the front of Tundra’s new jersey.”

“’FIFA has over 3.3 billion views on TikTok to date. The appetite for esports, and particularly FIFA content is already proven, so the partnership is a natural fit,’ said Michael Munro, co-founder of Tundra.”

Market Capitalization of $52.3 Million for Guild Esports

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Forbes: “Guild Esports, the young esports business co-owned by soccer legend David Beckham, has successfully completed its public market flotation on the London Stock Exchange, with a market capitalization of £41.2 million ($52.3 million).”

“The transaction, led by joint brokers Zeus Capital and Mirabaud Securities, included an initial £20 million ($25.8 million) fundraise–a feat all the more impressive, considering Guild Esports only launched in June 2020.”

“The market listing means that Guild becomes the first esports franchise to join the LSE. The money raised by the company will be invested into branding, recruitment, and “scaling into various esports disciplines over the course of the 2020/21 season”, in games such as Rocket League, Fortnite, CS:GOand, unsurprisingly, FIFA. Guild also plans to continually raise revenues through tournament winnings, sponsorship, merchandise, events, digital marketing opportunities and more.”

Mercedes-Benz, League Of Legends Become Partners

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Esports Insider: “Riot Games has established German automotive giant Mercedes-Benz as a global partner of League of Legends esports.”

“As well as serving as the presenting sponsor of the trophy ceremony at the major international events, Mercedes-Benz has been named the official exclusive automotive partner. It’ll develop branded content, dedicated commercials, ad artwork, and social media content around the events, according to a release.”

“Naz Aletaha, Head of Global Esports Partnerships at Riot Games, commented in a release: ‘Mercedes-Benz is the first luxury automotive brand to truly embrace esports at a global scale, while developing a deep understanding of the unrelenting passion fueling the game and the League of Legends esports community.'”

Guild Esports Becomes First Public Esports Company in London IPO

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CNN: “A company co-founded by David Beckham plans to become the first esports franchise to list on the London Stock Exchange, taking advantage of the growing popularity of online gaming.”

“Guild Esports, a UK-based owner and developer of esports teams, confirmed plans for an initial public offering in a statement Wednesday. The company said it wants to build a global sports franchise modeled on the English Premier League, NBA and NFL. It will float 40% of its shares next month and hopes to raise £20 million ($25.9 million) to recruit new players and invest in the business.”

“A stock market listing will provide Guild Esports “with the caché, credibility and capital” to fulfill its ambition to become one of the world’s top 10 esports franchises within three years, executive chairman Carleton Curtis said in the statement.”

Bronny James Joins Esports Team FaZe Clan

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CBS: “LeBron James‘ oldest son is joining the professional ranks of the Esports world. On Sunday, Esports and gaming franchise FaZe Clan announced that Bronny James, who is just 15 years old, is joining their roster under the tag ‘FaZe Bronny.'”

“James is also a highly-touted high school basketball recruit who is currently playing for Sierra Canyon High School in Los Angeles. He is one of the top prospects in the 2023 recruiting class in addition to being very involved in the video game scene.”

“Bronny James certainly isn’t the first high-profile athlete to be involved with FaZe Clan. Pittsburgh Steelers star wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster joined in 2018 while Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons joined as an investor, ambassador and content creator just last week.”

First-Ever Esports Partnership for Spotify, Teams Up With League Of Legends

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NME: “Streaming giant Spotify has announced an exclusive partnership with American video game company Riot Games’ popular MOBA League Of Legends.”

“Spotify announced its first-ever eSports partnership today (25 August) via its blog, and noted that it will serve as the exclusive ‘global audio service provider for League Of Legends‘.”

“Over the course of its multi-year partnership, Spotify and Riot Games will work together to launch a new League Of Legends eSports Music Hub on the streaming service, produce a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Worlds Anthem, develop various podcast series, and publish specially curated playlists.”

“The two companies will also launch a nine-episode podcast series titled Untold Stories: Top Moments From Worlds in the lead up to the 10th annual League Of Legends World Championships later this year.”

“For the championship tournament coverage, Spotify will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the Worlds Anthem via a Spotify takeover.” 

US Army Esports Stops Streaming After Violations

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Screen Rant: “After a series of seemingly nefarious actions, the US Army Esports team has reportedly paused all interaction on their social media platforms, including streaming Twitch. The U.S. Army and Navy Esports teams have been under fire for conning young teens into signing up for military contracts, and the former has most recent come under scrutiny for banning viewers from commenting on their Twitch channels for dissenting, a potentially unconstitutional act.”

“In mid-July, the U.S. Army Esports team came under heavy scrutinization after it was reported that they had been banning viewers who asked about war crimes. The backlash they faced came from viewers who claimed their First Amendment rights of free speech had been violated, since the U.S. Army Esports team is a government entity and was censoring US citizens in its stream chat. Their second offense was when viewers discovered a series of fake giveaways running on their social media pages. The fake links led people to an army recruitment site that provided no further mention of the supposed giveaway.”

“Esports insider Rod Breslau posted a tweet claiming that “sources” had told him that the US Army Esports team has paused all social media activity due to the recent influx of negative media coverage.”