Esports

Overwatch League Confirms Home-Away Schedule, Red Bull Partners With the LEC



TEO MOnday Briefing Overwatch League Home Games

Credit: Blizzard Entertainment/Stewart Volland

The Overwatch League confirms its 2020 home-venue schedule, ESL launches a new mobile competition brand with AT&T, and Red Bull joins the LEC sponsor portfolio.

Missed any of the biggest esports business news last week? The TEO Monday Morning Briefing recaps the top headlines from the last seven days!


 
The Overwatch League confirmed it will launch a full home-and-away schedule in 2020, greatly enhancing both the operational challenges and the team-level revenue potential for the global esports property.

Teams have been preparing for a 2020 move from the central Blizzard Arena in LA back to their markets since launch, but league executives had been reluctant to commit to it officially. This model has never been attempted at such a scale in esports, but would open up ticketing, local sponsorships, and the chance to gather greater data on fans.


 
ESL and its sponsor AT&T have expanded their partnership to include a new mobile-focused competition series – the ESL Mobile Open. This is one of the largest third-party mobile esports initiatives to date in the West, highlighting the commitment by AT&T to growing this niche market. The ESL Mobile Open will begin its first season on March 18 and feature three games: racer Asphalt 9: Legends, strategy game Clash of Clans, and PUBG Mobile, the smartphone and tablet adaptation of battle royale hit PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS.


 
ESPN has announced the creation of the College Esports Championship (CEC)—a new collegiate event series that allows students to compete for scholarships. According to ESPN, “hundreds” of North American colleges will compete in a series of qualifiers in the near future. Gaming organization Collegiate Starleague will host the qualifying rounds for Street Fighter V while Tespa, the North American collegiate esports organization branch of Blizzard, will host the qualifying rounds for Overwatch, Hearthstone, StarCraft II, and Heroes of the Storm.


 
Gaming headset maker Turtle Beach has announced an agreement to acquire German PC accessory maker ROCCAT for up to $19.2M USD total in cash, stock, and earnout payments. Turtle Beach is primarily focused on the console gaming headset market, where it has held at least 40% market share for nine straight years, according to a release. On the other hand, ROCCAT’s primary focus is PC peripherals, ranging from keyboards to mice and headsets.


Major Sponsorships and Partnerships

 
As the League of Legends European Championship (LEC)’s official energy drink sponsor, Red Bull will develop activations for live league events and the Spring and Summer Finals. According to an LEC blog post, Red Bull and Riot Games will also work together to develop “grassroots” League of Legends competitions for Europe’s amateur scene.

G2 Esports has teamed with Red Bull Racing to name the organization’s racing simulation team the Red Bull Racing Esports Team. Upcoming competitions where the newly named team will be present include Forza Motorsport tournaments, as well as the FIA Gran Turismo Sport World Championship.

Wizards of the Coast revealed that Omen by HP will present the Magic: The Gathering (MTG) Mythic Invitational tournament, taking place March 28-31 at PAX East, in Boston, Massachusetts. All 64 competitors will compete on desktop computers from HP’s gaming line, with the winner taking home a gaming system along with a $250K prize.


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