Another week in esports, another non-endemic sponsorship. Dr Pepper has joined forces with German esports team mousesports to bring about a refreshing new partnership. Outside of sponsorship, IEM has announced that League of Legends will no longer feature at its events, and the announcement coincided with Riot’s announcement of their new series of international tournaments. Whilst rumours remain aplenty about the Overwatch League, Blizzard has now announced the Overwatch Contenders which is set to get underway imminently.
Dr Pepper and mousesports join forces
It wouldn’t be a normal week in esports without a non-endemic sponsorship. Mous took to their website to reveal the deal, welcoming Dr Pepper Germany as a “new refreshing partner”. The partnership will begin with almost immediate effect, with mousesports jerseys to bear the logo from ESL Pro League Finals, in Dallas, Texas at the start of June.
The deal promises exclusive, behind the scenes contact for their fans. Content is considered king in esports so good content could be the key to making the partnership as successful as possible. Mous house one of the most popular Dota 2 rosters, who are known for their effervescence and thus the content opportunities there are seemingly endless.
Read the full article here.
IEM drop League of Legends from their tournaments and Riot announce Rift Rivals
There was big news from the organisers of the Intel Extreme Masters this week as they revealed that League of Legends will, at least for this season, no longer feature at their events. At IEM Katowice, League was one of three titles – complimenting CS:GO and Heroes of the Storm.
A lack of guarantee over the top teams and top talent’s availability has led to IEM now no longer hosting League of Legends. It’s one of very few events outside of Riot’s Mid Season Invitational and World Championships that has previously hosted the biggest League of Legends teams on a global stage. It has a storied history and the Reddit thread was filled with fond memories of tournaments gone-by.
It was later announced by Riot as the developer revealed details of its new international series. The series of tournaments is aptly named Rift Rivals, and will feature a plethora of tournaments being held in multiple locations across the world during July 3rd – 9th.
Five tournaments will pit teams from 13 regions with close rivals. Riot has outlined that each tournament will vary in numbers of invited teams, venues and format but each event will pair one region against each other. There will be no games between teams from the same region – thus deviating from the traditional league and split system that characterises the League of Legends esports ecosystem.
Read the full article here. (IEM)
Read the full article here. (Riot)
Overwatch Contenders announced with comprehensive rule-set in place
Whilst rumours continue to circulate about ridiculous prices for buy-in to the Overwatch League and potential lack of interest and/or proof of concept, Blizzard has announced the Overwatch Contenders series – which aims to create a grass roots scene for the fledgling esports title.
eams from North America and Europe are invited to register and participate in the open signup, online-only qualifier to determine the top eight teams in each region. The two open tournaments will have a prize pool of $50,000 (£38,500).
In North America, “Season Zero’s” top six teams will be joined by APEX participants Envy and Rogue for six weeks of round-robin play in Overwatch Contenders Season One. The top four teams will advance to an offline playoff bracket, where they will battle it out for their share of $100,000 (£77,000). Equally, eight European teams will play in a six-week regular season. The four of the best in Europe will then compete for their share of $100,000 in their own offline playoff bracket.
For us, what was particularly interesting was the pre-defined and by esports standards remarkably clear rule-set, outlining the company’s stance on relatively controversial aspects such as gambling, match fixing and cheating.
Read the full article here.