Spanish mobile operator Telefónica have presented their plans within esports for 2018. Amongst them is their establishment of the Movistar Riders Academy, a project aimed at developing Spanish esports talent, offering a unique training space and experience to improve young players’ talents.
Dante Cacciatore, Director of Communications, Brand, and Customer Experience at Telefónica España, provided the main one-year magnitudes “of a project that has exceeded our expectations, until it has become one of the pillars of Movistar’s strategy”.
Ten programs produced in-house have been developed in the Movistar+ Movistar Esports Channel. In addition, 2.7 million followers, 185 million hits, 15 million visualizations of contents, and 250,000 pages visited each month were reached in the digital ecosystem of Movistar Esports.
Cacciatore also added that this year, Telefónica wants to “take a step forward promoting the development of esports among fans, and for this purpose we have the best tool: connectivity, the foundation of the Digital Revolution”.
With this comes the Movistar Esports Series; an agreement between Movistar and ESL, featuring a series of competitions that will nurture amateur players and help them in the early stages of their professional esports career.
Manuel Moreno, Managing Director Spain & Latin America at ESL, said that this initiative offers the incentive to amateur players of being able to earn trips to major events such as ESL One, IEM, or other iconic ESL events. However, he stated that “the most important thing is that the CS:GO Movistar eSports Series will offer teams who finish in first and second place a direct spot to play the Promotional Phase that will give access to the next season of the CS:GO ESL Masters, the CS:GO National League”.
The Movistar Riders Academy follows in the footsteps of similar schemes such as the Infinite-owned GG Esports Academy, and seems to be the next step forward for creating top esports talent.
Esports Insider says: It’s great to see more development opportunities open up for young talent, especially in Spain where there is such a strong grassroots scene with companies such as LVP running some of the nation’s favourite tournaments.
