Brazilian financial services company Banco do Brasil (BB) has announced the BB Game Series, a collegiate esports tournament open to all students in the country.
The series, which is in partnership with credit card brand Visa, will feature HearthStone, League Of Legends, CS:GO and Clash Royale tournaments, with a total prize pool of $100,000 BRL (£12,330.27).
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According to the release, the competition will have several stages during the year. The first stage of the competition will be exclusive to students regularly enrolled in undergraduate or graduate courses of public or private higher education institutions in Brazil.
Registration for the BB Game Series will be available between March 10th and 28th. The competition, which starts on April 3th and runs through June, features regional tryouts in doubles elimination games, divided by the country’s five regions.
In all, 32 teams/players from each title will qualify for the closed national tryouts. From the main qualifying phase onwards, Banco do Brasil will broadcast all games on the Bank’s Twitch channel.
Paula Sayão, Banco do Brasil’s Marketing and Communication Director, commented: “For the past 30 years, Banco do Brasil has always been one of the biggest supporters of Olympic sports and, since 2018, it has been betting on and encouraging the electronics scene.
“We want to contribute to the development of this market and to further strengthen our connection with the young audience. We are happy to launch a project of this size, which encourages those who are starting. It is another step to consolidate, more and more, Brazil in this new universe.”
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Streamers Gaulês and Pimpimenta and caster Ana Xisdê have also been announced as Banco do Brasil’s ‘Squad BB’ ambassadors. As a result, they will support the project and create exclusive content to help players to develop in-game.
Additionally, the event will feature casters, such as Badi and Otávio ‘BCZ’ Bocuzzi for CS: GO; Kaov for League of Legends; Bruno Clash and Decow for Clash Royale; and Tesdey for Hearthstone broadcasts.
Visa has sponsored global sporting events, such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, for more than 30 years of global sporting events. Moreover, the firm has previously partnered with EVOS Esports and competitive gaming platform FACEIT.
Rodrigo Bochicchio, Executive Director of Marketing at Visa do Brasil, added: “Sports sponsorship is part of Visa’s DNA and is an important pillar for our business. These sponsorships bring us closer to consumers and help us build a business with our customers. Banco do Brasil is a great example and partner by which we can offer an extraordinary experience for fans and players.”
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Esports Insider Says: Banco do Brasil is a huge non-endemic brand that already has ties with Brazil’s esports ecosystem. The BB Game Series is not just a great initiative for the bank, but for esports as a whole as it helps develop new talent through college tournaments.