Indian esports and gaming company Skyesports has announced Skyesports Masters, India’s first franchised esports league.
Taking place across three months, Skyesports Masters will feature eight franchise teams competing in CS:GO for a share of the 2 Crore INR (⁓£195,800) prize pool.
Through sponsorships, merchandise sales and media rights deals, Skyesports will utilise its market position to create revenue opportunities for all the franchised teams participating in the league. The organisation will do so in hopes of enabling the creation of a sustainable ecosystem for Counter-Strike in the years to come.
The Skyesports Masters will kick off with the on-ground café qualifiers taking place in 20 cities across the country, including, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai, among others. The franchised teams have the option of picking up this talent in addition to their rosters consisting of Indian and international Counter-Strike pros.
Once the rosters have been finalised, the eight teams will battle it out in Mumbai for the grand prize. The LAN event will be split into the league stage and the playoffs and will be open to a live audience. The exact venue and ticketing information will be announced at a later date.
Shiva Nandy, the Founder and CEO, Skyesports, commented: “The Skyesports Masters is set to redefine and set an example for esports in India. With our franchised system, we have found eight fantastic partners to be a part of the inaugural season of the league.
“Our goal for the league is not to just create one of the grandest tournaments for audiences to enjoy but also to build a viable ecosystem for esports organisations while unlocking many revenue streams for them. This is the need of the hour for the Indian esports industry as a lot of organisations are reeling under huge losses.”
Earlier this year, Skyesports partnered with Microsoft to co-launch the third season of the Windows 11 Skyesports Grand Slam.
