This week in esports: Call of Duty League, Nike, TI9, Clash of Clans

Activision Blizzard has revealed two new franchises for its upcoming Call of Duty League, Nike has gotten more involved in esports, The International 2019’s prize pool is soaring, and ESL One Hamburg just got even more exciting. Here are this week in esports’ biggest, best, and most surprising stories.

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Immortals and WISE Ventures secure Call of Duty franchise slots

Call of Duty Franchising Immortals Gaming Club
Image credit: MLG

Activision Blizzard unveiled two new franchises, and the owners behind them, for its upcoming Call of Duty League.

Immortals Gaming Club has secured the Los Angeles franchise and WISE Ventures has purchased the Minnesota slot. This takes the current total of announced franchises to seven.

Read the full article here.

Nike enters multi-year partnership with FURIA

FURIA Nike Partnership
Image credit: FURIA

Brazilian esports organisation FURIA revealed that its latest partnership is with multinational sportswear brand Nike.

The partnership will activate over the next “few years,” commencing with the debut of their newest uniforms this week at ESL One Cologne.

Read the full article here.

The International 2019 prize pool surpasses last year’s record

The International 2019
Image credit: Valve

The International 2019 has already gained the biggest prize pool in Dota 2 history with eight weeks remaining before the event kicks off.

The crowd-funded prize pool for the tournament, which begins its main event on August 20th, is sitting above $25.6 million (£20.3 million) with over 50 days still to go.

Read the full article here.

ESL One Hamburg to host Clash of Clans World Championship

ESL One Hamburg Clash of Clans World Championship
Photo credit: ESL

ESL One Hamburg has added another tournament to its lineup, announcing that the Clash of Clans World Championship will take place at the start of the weekend.

Hosted at the Barclaycard Arena, the event kicks off on October 25th. Six qualifying teams and two wildcard squads will compete for a total prize pool of $1 million (£791,050).

Read the full article here.