Esports betting company Rivalry has announced FragFest, a Counter-Strike 2 LAN tournament hosted in collaboration with Counter-Strike commentator Mohan ‘Launders’ Govindasamy.
The tournament will be the first Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) LAN event to take place in Toronto, Canada.
Operated by Rivalry, the FragFest event will take place on January 6th 2024 at the Red Bull Gaming Studio based within Canadian esports holding company OverActive Media’s Toronto headquarters.
FragFest will feature 16 teams competing for a share of $2,500 CAD (~£1,467) in prize money. The details of the teams competing were not disclosed.
According to a release, the hosting of FragFest is an expansion of Rivalry’s existing partnership with Launders which began in April 2023. The collaboration aims to ‘engage Toronto-based esports fans’ through a range of activations and a range of online content.
Throughout 2023, Rivalry has continued to expand its offerings across Canada, where it is based and has a licence to operate. In June 2023, the company launched an esports betting app in Ontario offering markets in various titles including Counter-Strike, League of Legends and Call of Duty.
In recent years, bookmakers have increasingly started running their own esports events to engage directly with fans and bettors. Examples include the Pinnacle Cup series, GG.BET’s ‘Match of LeGGends’, the BetBoom Dacha, Thunderpick CS:GO World Championship and Roobet Cup.
Elsewhere, Rivalry released its financial results for Q3 2023 in Novmber. Despite reporting a net loss, the company did record increases in its betting handle and its total revenue.
Britt Doll, Rivalry’s Canada Marketing Director, spoke on the event: “Not only is Launders a one-of-a-kind personality in the industry, but he’s also personally aligned with our vision to create meaningful activations and entertainment for the local esports community in Toronto.
“With Counter-Strike 2 coming into focus and its first major event coming up in a few months, we couldn’t have asked for a better partner and activation to kick off this next era of Counter-Strike esports.”
