eSports
Wizards District Gaming Announces Schedule for First Six Weeks of Season Three of NBA 2K League
- Team opens against Raptors Uprising Gaming Club on Wednesday, May 6 at 9pm ET and will play eight games across the six-week start
- Wizards District Gaming to be featured as the NBA 2K League’s highlighted “Game of the Week” on Friday, May 8 at 9:30pm ET vs. Magic Gaming and on Friday, June 5 at 9:30pm ET vs. Jazz Gaming
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On May 1st, Wizards District Gaming announced the first eight games of their 2020 regular-season schedule to be played across six weeks, with their opener set for Wednesday, May 6, versus Raptors Uprising Gaming Club. The 2020 Wizards District Gaming season will once again be presented by Leidos.
In response to the nationwide coronavirus outbreak, the first six-weeks of the fourteen-week regular season will be played remotely. The schedule for the rest of the season will be released by the NBA 2K League at a later date.
Within the first eight games of play, two will be highlighted by the NBA 2K League as its “Game of the Week,” which brings added promotion by the League and will be the only game being played live across the League. The first will be on Friday, May 8 against Magic Gaming and the second will be on Friday, June 5 against Jazz Gaming. Both games will be begin at 9:30pm ET and will be broadcast on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch (http://twitch.tv/nba2kleague) and YouTube (http://youtube.com/nba2kleague) channels.
“We are thrilled to finally announce our live game schedule for the first six weeks of play of the NBA 2K League regular season,” said Zach Leonsis, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Monumental Sports & Entertainment & GM of Monumental Sports Network. “At Monumental, we aim to deliver best-in-class live experiences, compete for championships in every sport we play, and support our great community in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland. We are excited to compete for a playoff spot and make our community proud.”
Wizards District Gaming, one of the seventeen original teams to launch during the NBA 2K League’s inaugural season in 2018, begins its third season next week. This year’s six-man roster includes Brandon Richardson (a.k.a. BRich), Ryan Conger (a.k.a. Dayfri), Jack Mascone (a.k.a. JBM), Justin Howell (a.k.a. Just_Awkward), Antonio Newman (a.k.a. Newdini) and Maurice Delaney (a.k.a. ReeseDaGod). Dayfri and ReeseDaGod are returning members of Wizards District Gaming’s Season 2 roster and bring experience as members of the inaugural 2K League draft class. Newdini joins Wizards District Gaming after two years with 76ers GC. Wizards District Gaming selected JBM with the #1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA 2K League Draft and he takes over as the team’s starting point guard this season. He joins Just_Awkward and BRich as members of Wizards District Gaming’s Season 3 rookie class.
“We’re so excited to begin the Season 3 of the NBA 2K League, said Andrew McNeill, Director of Esports, Monumental Sports & Entertainment. “The best NBA 2K players in the world compete at the highest level in the NBA 2K League and we’re proud to be a part of it. We feel like the roster that we’ve assembled this year is one that can contend for a championship and we can’t wait to watch it all play out live every week.
The NBA 2K League has enjoyed steady year-over-year viewership growth and expects to continue its rapid ascension through its third season of play. Monumental Sports & Entertainment has established itself as a leader in esports, having invested in a variety of esports and gaming related businesses over the past five years. Monumental Sports & Entertainment is a proud investor in endemic esports organization, Team Liquid, and has also launched a first-of-its-kind esports sub-brand for the NHL’s Washington Capitals called Caps Gaming.
“The team and I are ready and primed to start playing our scheduled games,” said Patrick Crossan. “We’ve had some success in the preseason – winning the Spring 16 tournament – and are looking forward to that translating to winning in the regular season. I’ve been very proud of how our players have handled themselves in scrimmages and film sessions. We all have high expectations for the team and now it’s about just going out there and playing 2K.”
Schedule:
- Game 1: 5/6, Wednesday Raptors Uprising Gaming Club at 9:00 PM
- Game 2: 5/8, Friday Magic Gaming at 9:30 PM
- Game 3: 5/12, Tuesday Heat Check Gaming at 9:00 PM
- Game 4: 5/19, Tuesday Pistons Gaming Team at 9:00 PM
- Game 5: 5/26, Tuesday Hornets Venom Gaming Team at 9:00 PM
- Game 6: 5/27, Wednesday Celtics Crossover Gaming at 9:00 PM
- Game 7: 6/5, Friday Jazz Gaming at 9:30 PM
- Game 8: 6/11, Thursday Mavs Gaming at 7:00 PM
For more information about Wizards District Gaming and for updates on the schedule, please visit: www.WizardsDG.com
Canada
Cutting-edge esports betting solutions empower BET99’s expansion into the booming vertical
PandaScore, the premier provider of esports betting odds, data, and innovative products, has announced an exciting new collaboration with BET99, one of Ontario’s top-ranking sportsbook and casino operators. This marks another major milestone for PandaScore as it continues to build its network of high-profile operators.
The deal gives BET99 access to PandaScore’s industry-leading Odds feed, which delivers comprehensive coverage of the world’s most popular esports titles, including Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), Dota 2, and League of Legends (LoL). Powered by advanced algorithms and supported by a team of specialized traders, PandaScore’s feed enables operators like BET99 to offer competitive odds while hitting a standard-setting margin of 6%.
In addition to PandaScore’s Odds feed, BET99 will integrate cutting-edge features such as BetBuilder and MicroBetting markets. These tools empower players to customize their wagers and enjoy dynamic, fast-paced betting experiences, aligning perfectly with the demands of today’s esports audiences.
The move into esports betting comes at a pivotal moment for the sector, which continues to see exponential growth. PandaScore recently surpassed €1 billion in esports bets processed through its platform, underscoring its expertise and leadership in this space.
Oliver Niner, Head of B2B, PandaScore, said: “Esports betting is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of the betting industry, and we’re thrilled to support BET99 as they take this exciting step. With our powerful Odds feed and innovative products like BetBuilder, BET99 is uniquely positioned to deliver a premium esports betting experience to players across Ontario.
“Our collaboration with BET99 is representative of the incredible momentum PandaScore has built in expanding our operator network. We’re excited to collaborate with BET99 and support their ambitious plans to become a leader in esports betting.”
Andre Bewerungen, Head of Sportsbook, BET99, added: “At BET99, our mission has always been to deliver a world-class player experience through personalization and innovation. With esports rapidly emerging as a key vertical, we see an incredible opportunity to engage the next generation of bettors who are passionate about this dynamic space.
By collaborating with PandaScore, we can provide tailored, engaging, and cutting-edge betting options that resonate with esports fans. Their comprehensive odds feed and advanced betting tools allow us to create a seamless, interactive experience that enhances player engagement and builds lasting connections with this growing audience. We’re excited to collaborate with PandaScore and take esports betting to the next level in Ontario.”
eSports
Influencers, Content and eSports: Unleashing the Power of Dynamic Strategies in the eSports Ecosystem
The sports betting industry is undergoing significant growth worldwide with restrictions loosening and new markets emerging. New opportunities create fierce competition among sportsbooks, and this has led to them devising increasingly expensive and aggressive advertising campaigns.
Public figures and influencers have become a popular go-to for sportsbooks promotions, such as Michael Jordan partnering with DraftKings or Jamie Foxx with BetMGM. Big names are costly, and sportsbooks haven’t realised the ad spend used on these campaigns is going to waste. Without the right precautions in place, up to 22% of ad spend is lost to fraud according to Juniper Research.
The big budgets behind high-profile brand campaigns need to translate into real user engagement. To achieve this, sportsbooks must ensure their digital channels are optimised to capture the surge in interest these campaigns generate. Without proper management, this potential can be lost to inefficiencies like invalid traffic, diluting the impact of their investments.
Ad Budgets Going to Waste
In today’s competitive landscape, sportsbooks need to make every click count. In 2023 alone, The American Gaming Association estimated that over $1.9 billion was spent on advertising campaigns in the US. With such a large amount of spend in play, it’s crucial that sportsbooks see as big a Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) as possible.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns are vital for sportsbook growth but can be disrupted by invalid traffic (IVT). IVT includes both malicious activity, like fraudulent bots, and unintentional actions, such as users repeatedly clicking on ads without intent to convert. These interactions inflate impressions and skew campaign performance data, leading to higher customer acquisition costs (CACs) and inefficient allocation of ad spend. Effectively managing IVT ensures that ad budgets drive genuine engagement and measurable growth.
Investing into influencers and celebrities also forces sportsbooks to bid on brand keywords to prevent their competitors stealing potential users searching for them. Up to 29% of PPC budgets are spent on this bidding according to Wordstream. As competition for brand keywords increases, PPC budgets are depleted without generating any new net revenue.
As campaigns become more expensive than ever, sportsbooks can’t afford to let profits fall to ad fraud. Instead of cutting budgets, sportsbooks should focus on analysing their campaign strategy.
Problematic Navigational Traffic
Navigational traffic is also presenting a significant challenge to sportsbooks alongside ad fraud. Navigational traffic refers to existing customers clicking on branded keywords to log into their accounts. While this seems convenient and harmless enough, this behaviour drastically inflates CACs. Like ad fraud, this can skew the effectiveness of PPC campaigns. By utilising paid search results instead of organic links to navigate to the site, costs are driven up without contributing to new user acquisition.
In addition to the challenges posed by navigational traffic and ad fraud, the competitive landscape for first-time depositors intensifies the need for strategic bidding on Google search. Brands investing heavily in influencers or sponsorships of major sporting events to generate awareness and drive potential users to search for them. However, without securing top placements in paid search results, these prospective customers may be intercepted by competitors before reaching the organic search listings. This creates a critical juncture where the effectiveness of a brand campaign hinges on converting that intent-driven traffic into first-time depositors, ensuring marketing spend achieves its goal of meaningful user acquisition.
First-time depositors are a critical metric for sportsbooks, and this issue directly impacts the cost efficiency of acquiring them. High CACs make marketing budgets less effective, reducing overall ROI.
Shoring Up Your Defences
Before launching costly ad campaigns, sportsbooks should adopt a multi-faceted approach to address ad fraud. IVT typically goes unnoticed, so to prevent this sportsbooks should monitor and analyse their campaign traffic for any suspicious activity. It is possible to identify IVT by looking out for signs such as irregular spikes in traffic from unknown locations or high pageviews. Fraudulent traffic can then by highlighted and removed.
The advancement of technology has made ad fraud more difficult to identify, and legacy fraud tools fail to detect IVT. They don’t analyse traffic at the impression level or consider the context of the business advertising. Sportsbooks can leverage ad-verification platforms to compensate for this. This allows sportsbooks to analyse and report suspicious traffic in real-time. Fraud can then be blocked before it has a chance to harm budgets.
Sportsbooks can also deploy tactics to reduce the impact of navigational traffic on CACs. Methods include encouraging existing customers to use mobile apps or direct bookmarks to log into their accounts instead of paid search campaigns. This decreases their reliance on PPC campaigns for navigation and protects budgets.
Keeping Profits in Sportsbooks’ Hands
Influencer and celebrity campaigns have proven to be a popular and useful tool in reeling new users and profits. However, if sportsbooks don’t have the essential precautions in place, they risk losing these profits to advertising fraud.
To make the most of their advertising efforts, sportsbooks need to prioritise their traffic. Implementing sophisticated tools to analyse traffic and filter out fraud will allow sportsbooks to protect their interests and focus on driving future growth. This way, they can secure their position in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Written by: Chad Kinlay, Chief Marketing Officer, TrafficGuard
A driven, open-minded, creative senior marketer with a strong sense of dedication and commitment. With over 15 years of progressive international experience in marketing and communications management, Kinlay has a credible history of commercial success.
eSports
Community Gaming Joins Forces with Moonton as Official Esports Partner for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Community Gaming (CG), the leading esports platform for automated tournament payouts and sponsor of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s professional league for the Latin America Region, MPL LATAM, now supports developing esports communities in Latin America in collaboration with Moonton.
This partnership is a significant boost to CG’s existing advantages associated with its grant program, a partner-backed initiative to provide organizers with economic resources based on the performance and growth of their local gaming communities. Tournament organizers can apply to receive platform support, prizes, in-game currency, items, and tournament professional assistance including “Tournament Mode,” a special setting on Mobile Legends: Bang Bang that grants organizers enhanced features, such as unlocking all available skins in the game for players to fully enjoy a complete and unique MLBB pro tournament experience.
Wei Xu, regional esports operation manager at Moonton, said: “We are excited to announce the partnership with Community Gaming. Community Gaming is the most accepted esports platform in our community in Latin America. We hope this partnership brings new experiences to the players.”
As MPL comes to its end this year, CG will also be collaborating with MLBB professional teams for a flash $4000 prize tournament set to enhance the visibility of the company’s services. This event marks a pivotal moment set to highlight CG’s preparedness to impact the professional MLBB scene.
Community Gaming and Moonton are no strangers to mutual cooperation. In the past both companies have partnered to develop the Dawn of Heroes Series, a set of events in 2021 and 2022 that offered qualifying slots to MLBB’s Signature Competition, Liga LATAM. The companies have also worked together on Peru’s University Tournament INTERU 2023 and currently Community Gaming hosts significant activity of MLBB Tournaments from over 12 countries on a monthly basis.
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