ESL has found its latest collaborator in multinational conglomerate holding company AT&T, which deals massively in telecommunications. Aptly, this deal sees AT&T become ESL’s North American official telecommunications and mobile gaming partner.
As a way to kick off and announce this deal, both parties hosted a Clash Royale tournament at AT&T’s annual SHAPE Technology & Entertainment Expo on Sunday.
AT&T is well-versed in the world of traditional sports – the Dallas Cowboys call AT&T Stadium home and the San Francisco Giants play out of the AT&T Park – but not so much in the esports industry. The telecoms company is set to have a presence at ESL One New York, as well as an upcoming IEM tournament and the Arena of Valor Pro League.
Shiz Suzuki, AVP of Corporate Sponsorships at AT&T discussed the partnership: “Teaming up with ESL just makes sense. Esports creates a natural intersection of technology and entertainment, which aligns with our brand and our customers’ passions. AT&T celebrates the esports community, and we’re excited to bring rich, new ways for fans to enjoy gaming as the industry continues to grow.”
AT&T is set to offer 5G mobile connections later in 2018, which would seemingly help mobile gaming become even faster and more reliable. This will be demonstrated at E3 on June 12-14th at the ESL Arena in Los Angeles.
Mark Cohen, SVP for Global Brand Partnerships at ESL also commented on the partnership: “With such an experienced traditional sports brand like AT&T jumping into this industry, there are endless possibilities to what they can naturally bring to esports fans and players all over the world. We look forward to seeing what this collaboration will bring to esports and how it will impact the industry in a brand new way.”
Esports Insider says: AT&T is a ridiculously big company, and getting them this involved in esports is a big move from ESL. It’ll be interesting to see if this partnership is strictly event-based, or if AT&T could do something to educate its customers about esports.