eSports
NBA 2K League Season 3 Week 2 Preview
KENNY’S KNOCKOUT WEEK: Raptors Uprising GC point guard Kenneth “Kenny Got Work” Hailey was named NBA 2K League Player of the Week for week 1 of the 2020 NBA 2K League season. Highlighted by a 51-point game against 2019 runner-up 76ers GC, the Memphis-native averaged 35 points and connected on 24 three-pointers over the two matches to lead his team to a 2-0 record. Hailey and Raptors Uprising GC will visit Grizz Gaming on Tuesday, May 12 and Hornets Venom GT on Thursday, May 14. Both series begin at 7 p.m. ET.
FINALS REMATCH: On Friday, May 15 at 9:30 p.m. ET, 76ers GC will host T-Wolves Gaming in a rematch of the 2019 NBA 2K League Finals. Led by Finals MVP Michael “BearDaBeast” Key, Minnesota won the 2019 NBA 2K League championship in a dramatic 5-game series. The team was presented official NBA 2K League championship rings from Jostens last Thursday before tipping off their Season 3 campaign.
G LEAGUE ROOTS: Week 2 will also feature the matchup of two head coaches with NBA G League roots. Austin Peterson, the head coach of Cavs Legion GC, is also an assistant coach for the Canton Charge, while Warriors Gaming Squad head coach Mike Newton spent last season on the basketball operations team with the Santa Cruz Warriors. Warriors Gaming Squad will host Cavs Legion GC on Friday, May 15 at 7 p.m. ET.
DYNAMIC DEBUTS: Led by the dynamic duo of Nidal “Mama Im Dat Man” Nasser (2019 NBA 2K League MVP) and Dayne “OneWildWalnut” Downey (2018 NBA 2K League MVP), Blazer5 Gaming, the winningest team by regular-season record in NBA 2K League history, will make its 2020 season debut in Week 2. During the offseason, the team hired Andrew Maxie as its head coach and selected Brandon “Hood” Caicedo and Georgio “OOC Slim” Bonte in the 2020 NBA 2K League Draft delivered by Panera Bread. Caicedo led the NBA 2K League in scoring (29.2 PPG) in the 2018 season with Cavs Legion GC. Blazer5 Gaming will visit Pacers Gaming on Tuesday, May 12 at 9 p.m. ET and host Lakers Gaming on Thursday, May 14 at 9 p.m. ET.
THIS IS NOT A GAME: Drafted in the first-ever NBA 2K League Draft, Jomar “Jomar” Varela-Escapa had a remarkable journey to the NBA 2K League. Varela-Escapa was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and when Hurricane Maria left his home without power, he used his family’s diesel generator to play during the qualification windows for the league. The power forward played seasons 1 and 2 with Blazer5 Gaming and is in his first season with Pacers Gaming. On Friday, May 15 at 7 p.m. ET, Varela-Escapa will face fellow Puerto Rico native Michael “BP” Diaz-Cruz when Pacers Gaming visits Hawks Talon GC. Diaz-Cruz was born in Puerto Rico but moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut at the age of one. BP was acquired by Hawks Talon GC from Kings Guard Gaming this past offseason in arguably the biggest trade in NBA 2K League history according to The Action Network’s Darren Rovell.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS:
*All games are simulcast on ESPN’s platforms, Twitch and YouTube*
Tuesday, May 12
Raptors Uprising GC vs. Grizz Gaming – 7 PM ET
Blazer5 Gaming vs. Pacers Gaming – 9 PM ET
Wednesday, May 13
Warriors Gaming Squad vs. 76ers GC – 9 PM ET
Mavs Gaming vs. Lakers Gaming – 9 PM ET
Thursday, May 14
Raptors Uprising GC vs. Hornets Venom GT – 7 PM ET
Kings Guard Gaming vs. Gen.G Tigers – 9 PM ET
Friday, May 15
Cavs Legion GC vs. Warriors Gaming Squad – 7 PM ET
76ers GC vs. T-Wolves Gaming – 9:30 PM ET
eSports
CAPCOM’S STREET FIGHTERTM 6 GOING TO COLLEGE THIS FALL
- CSMG will create and operate College Street FighterTM Tour in North America for the 2024-25 academic year
- College conference Street Fighter 6 champions will punch their ticket to the national Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC) & May Madness in 2025
eSports
R&D rethink needed for sportsbooks to harness esports’ power
Esports betting is still grappling with a perception problem amongst operators. Despite the leaps and bounds in product development made by suppliers – particularly in the last two years – esports hasn’t shaken off the image built in the late 2010s.
Our good friend, Oliver Niner, Head of Sales at PandaScore, has been kind to share the below article with us.
There’s scepticism around esports betting’s value, how well it can actually perform and what’s needed to make it appeal to bettors. A big part of that comes down to perception, which shapes the research and development (R&D) choices made by each operator.
Self-fulfilling prophecy?
Operators who have put the research and development (R&D) resources into esports are seeing excellent growth, while others are still treating it like part of a long tail. The lack of a uniform approach to esports often translates into hesitancy to be bullish and invest in esports.
Whereas in the United States, post-PASPA sports betting has exploded and operators are seeking to capture as much territory and market share as possible because in most cases, you switch the lights on and the money comes in. It’s, of course, good business sense to take opportunities like this – you can apply the same templates used elsewhere on an incredibly lucrative market.
This kind of approach has been attempted for esports and hasn’t found the same success. Granted, the legislation for betting on esports has been somewhat slower than that of sports betting and iGaming.
However, bullish operators have acknowledged the fact that esports hasn’t found the same success in regulated states and asked what can be done differently, while for others, esports has been thrown into the too-hard basket or relegated to the bargain bucket.
For the latter, the fate of the esports vertical becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy – especially if an operator already using a budget esports product that throttles its very growth.
It takes two to tango
When esports is discussed in broader betting circles, you’ll often hear different versions of the same talking point: the problem with esports is no one is doing it well, it doesn’t innovate.
This argument is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Esports is a driver of innovation, and it is sportsbook R&D that is holding it back.
Multiple suppliers on the market are investing significant resources into R&D, and bullish operators are leveraging these product innovations to acquire new customers and create engagements made for the internet age.
There are understandable reasons why sports betting doesn’t innovate. It’s largely because operators focus on acquisition, entering new territories and spending money on data rights. But the actual R&D on sportsbook products is left lacking, with ever-increasing cost-per-acquisition (CPA) numbers a clear symptom of this.
It means that if an operator does decide to use or acquire an esports specialist supplier but does little to cater its product and attempts to just lay the sports betting template over the top, of course performance will be throttled.
It’s like putting a Ferrari engine in a Prius – no offence to Toyota or Prius owners.
The same problem exists on the platform supplier front. Platforms are understandably focused on compliance and getting customers live, not necessarily improving models or their products.
Even the idea that if you just acquire an innovative company the problem is solved or you have found the solution, doesn’t hold water. In many cases, the company is acquired and plenty of noise is made about it, but there’s little organisational investment in R&D afterwards.
It’s not just in esports
These problems extend to customer acquisition and marketing for most emerging markets, not just esports. There’s a rush to use the same old playbook in newer sectors because it’s easy.
The fantasy vs. house sector in the US is already experiencing an acquisition arms race. As analyst Dustin Gouker points out, deposit match bonuses for new users on fantasy vs house products have jumped from $100 to as high as $500 in some places.
This is the same race that played out in sports betting and despite the costs, there’s little effort from most operators to try something different. There’s less work when you just put the same acquisition template on an emerging sector and call it a day. This seems to be an accepted practice in the industry, for better or for worse.
Esports betting success requires ongoing dialogue
Rather than attempting to wedge esports into hegemonic sportsbook approaches, sportsbooks need to take a completely unique approach.
The fact is the betting sector has barely scratched the surface – communities of esports fans are still dormant. Canadian operator Rivalry has built a successful, esports-first business by embracing the ever-changing internet culture that esports inhabits. French esports organisation Karmine Corp recently sold out a 30,000-person stadium for an event with no prize money up for grabs.
Innovative products developed on the supplier side like microbetting and betbuilders are only half of the equation.
Maximising esports revenues requires institutional investment, ongoing R&D and collaboration between suppliers and operators to create products and experiences. This includes having staff on the operator side that can drive and push the product further, and crucially, rethinking current sportsbook strategies and practices.
Building experiences for betting’s greatest emerging market – one that caters to your future core audience – takes investment, innovation and a willingness to experiment. If the industry wants to make the most of the Millennial and Gen Z audience that will become its primary customers, investment into R&D and close collaboration between suppliers and operators is needed. Many hands makes light work.
eSports
North Star Network Acquires Um Dois Esportes
North Star Network has acquired Um Dois Esportes, a sports coverage and analysis site created from the merger of Gazeta Do Povo and Tribuna do Paraná in 2020.
Julien Josset, co-founder of North Star Network, said: “Thank you to the team at GRPCOM for their faith in us to take the brand forward. Um Dois Esportes is an established and renowned site in Paraná State, and we’re excited about the challenge of developing this asset.
“We’re happy to maintain the collaboration with the existing editorial team, and look forward to working with them, bringing our unique NSN approach, to take UDE forward.”
NSN’s signing of Um Dois Esportes is the media house’s fourth acquisition of 2024, following the recent deals to purchase UK-based SportsMole and MrFixitsTips, as well as Chilean site AlAireLibre, which was announced in March.
The latest addition to the North Star media portfolio joins existing assets including Top Mercato, Afrik-Foot, and Vringe. The Paris-based company already oversees a significant Brazilian operation, delivering over 6 million sessions per month, from the likes of Trivela, Premier League Brasil and Lakers Brasil.
NSN will retain Curitiba-based journalists from the Um Dois Esportes legacy team to maintain the asset’s unique tone and popular coverage of the Paraná sports scene across site and social.
Rafael Mello, Director of GRPCOM, said: “We were surprised by the interest, and initially had no intention of selling Um Dois, but as the conversations evolved, we realised this was a serious group with good intentions. We were very happy to see our project being valued by a large international group and going global, demonstrating the quality of the content we produced.
“We’re also proud that North Star inherited our journalists, who are truly responsible for the success of the product we offer readers every day.”
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