As you’re all probably well aware by now – esports never has a quiet week. The highlights we’ve picked out from another busy seven days are the following:
- GG.bet sponsoring Luminosity and Team NP;
- Blizzard annoucing the Overwatch League;
- Gfinity reports 158% revenue growth.
Welcome to our family @NPDotA! We are very proud to be the partners of your fantastic team! More: https://t.co/Zv5mLXeCCn pic.twitter.com/FK4htpTMIP
— GG.BET (@ggbet_en) November 9, 2016
A busy week for GG.bet
GG.bet announced not one, but two big partnerships in the industry this week. It’s not too much of a surprise, as GG.bet is an endemic bookmaker with no traditional sportsbook. Still, it shows they mean serious business with the pickup of two big teams. Although Dota 2 team Team NP are somewhat new, they house some very experienced players who are at the top of the game. Luminosity is a name synonymous with success across a multitude of titles. Together, the two sponsorships see GG.bet covering the majority of big esports titles.
It’s still great to see another company within the gambling get involved with with esports sponsorship and partnership. Although these are far from the scale of BetWay‘s sponsorship of Ninjas in Pyjamas, they’re still significant nonetheless.
Read the full articles here (NP) and here (Luminosity).
Blizzard announce Overwatch League
Esports is so cool! Very excited to be a part of the #Overwatch League launch! Check me out: https://t.co/1qHccnxQRQ pic.twitter.com/gydrmDcyj3
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) November 4, 2016
In a somewhat bizarre release video, Blizzard announced the arrival of the Overwatch League. The video actually featured tennis superstar Serena Williams and announced a system similar to that of Riot’s esports format.
Initial hints from Blizzard suggest that teams will be based in certain cities, in a similar format to that of traditional North American sports. It looks set to be based on a revenue share model and claimed that players participating will be paid a salary. Nowadays most esports professionals are paid some sort of salary when competing for an organisation. This move should propel Overwatch into the top tier of esports, though.
Gfinity announce 158% revenue growth
In a story published on Proactive Investors, it was revealed that Gfinity PLC has reported a 158% rise in revenues. This has further helped to reduce earlier losses, in what has been a great year for the UK based firm.
Neville Upton, Gfinity Chief Executive, stated: “We continued to deliver on our strategy to become one of the world’s leading promoters of esports competitions and content.
He concluded by saying: “This investment leaves Gfinity well positioned to accelerate its growth strategy into 2017.”
Gfinity generated £1.45m of revenue in the twelve months ending June 30, which is up 158% from £560,000 last year. Meanwhile the company’s operating loss fell by 12% to £3.2m. The overall loss for the year amounted to £3.03mln, compared to £3.58mln the year before.
Esports Insider says: It’s great to see the investment continue to filter in from endemic and non-endemic brands alike. It’ll be intriguing to hear further details of how Blizzard plan to implement the Overwatch League but sustained growth is basically guaranteed with the developer’s commitment. It’s also fantastic to see that Gfinity have seen such substantial growth in revenue. They’ve done a lot for the UK scene and long may it continue.
