Tournament organiser DreamHack has established a partnership with Telia for the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC) through 2021.
The NLC is a new addition to the European League of Legends ecosystem, acting as the top flight of play for teams in Northern Europe outside of the LEC.
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Telecommunications company Telia is already active in esports, having acquired the Finnish media rights to the ESL Pro Tour in March and hosting leagues in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway for League of Legends. The top two teams from each league advance to the Telia Masters, a qualifying event that in turn allows the best to advance to the NLC.
Mikko Kaarttinen, New Business Initiatives & Strategy at Telia Finland, spoke on the partnership in a release: “From the very beginning, it has been our goal to support professional gaming and help to provide players with a path to rise to the top. Together with Riot Games and DreamHack, we have now built a world-class ecosystem to bring entertainment and experiences to the players.
“We are proud to be partnered with NLC and look forward to seeing the best of Telia Esports Series take a chance at NLC teams to bring the League of Legends stars of tomorrow into the spotlight.”
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The inaugural season of the NLC began earlier this month with 11 organisations from the UK and the Nordics taking part. Although the tournament is completely detached from Europe’s premier competition, the LEC, two of the 10 partnered teams have academy rosters in the NLC – namely Fnatic and Excel Esports.
Roger Lodewick, Co-CEO of DreamHack, added: “We are grateful to be partnering with Telia for the NLC. This championship will allow highly-talented, competitive players from across the region to flourish on home soil, and create a pathway for amateur players to join the professional ranks.”
Esports Insider says: It’s great to see further investment into the NLC, a new and unproven league in a secondary tier of the League of Legends ecosystem. Hopefully, with the appropriate investment and a neatly interlinked Nordic ecosystem, new players will have more opportunities than ever before to showcase their talent.