Tournament organiser ESL Gaming, part of the ESL FACEIT Group, has announced the renewal of its partnership with audio streaming service Spotify.
The partnership will focus on Counter-Strike (CS) and will feature the Spotify podcast Talking Counter, as well as additional esports and CS-related content. Spotify will also sponsor ESL Meisterschaft and become a German broadcast partner for the ESL Pro Tour.
The partnership was first struck in July of 2022, and focused on German audiences and CS:GO. Spotify will now expand its presence in esports by further supporting ESL’s tournaments in Germany and abroad throughout 2023.
The renewed partnership will focus on several areas. The first is the Talking Counter podcast, which is available exclusively on Spotify and features well-known CS:GO personalities SPUNJ, moses, YNK and others.
Alongside the podcast, the companies promised other esports and Counter-Strike related content ahead of the IEM Cologne 2023, focusing on providing German viewers with exclusive content on Spotify.
Spotify will additionally act as the official partner for ESL Meisterschaft, a German national championship in Counter-Strike run by ESL. Further, Spotify will act as a German broadcast partner for the Counter-Strike portion of the ESL Pro Tour.
Benny Eichelmann, Senior Director Global Brand Partnerships at EFG, commented on the partnership extension: “Together with Spotify we’ve already been able to offer immense value and new engagement opportunities to the hugely passionate German esports community, and we can’t wait for them to experience this next phase in our collaboration.
As we head into an exciting new era for Counter-Strike fans we want to hone in on new and exclusive content that will delight hardcore Counter-Strike fans, whilst also continuing to build the connection between the esports-, audio-, and music worlds.”
