eSports
HAWKS TALON GC OPEN 2023 NBA 2K LEAGUE SEASON ON THURSDAY, MARCH 9
Hawks Talon GC, the official NBA 2K League affiliate of the Atlanta Hawks, will begin the 2023 NBA 2K League season on Thursday, March 9 with matchups against Celtics Crossover Gaming (6:45 p.m. ET) and Kings Guard Gaming (8:15 p.m. ET) in 3v3 gameplay. All games throughout the season can be found on the NBA 2K Leagueâs Twitch and Youtube channels.
In the recently announced 2023 NBA 2K League season structure, all 3v3 tournaments will be played beginning on March 8 and will run through May 13. This will include the SLAM OPEN, SWITCH OPEN and STEAL OPEN, and the 3v3 NBA 2K League Playoffs. The 3v3 format will include double elimination bracket play and no conferences. At the end of two weeks of group play in each tournament, all 25 NBA 2K League teams will advance to a 32-team remote bracket play for the first week, with the 12 top-performing NBA 2K League and Community teams remaining advancing to in-person bracket play in Washington, D.C. for the following week.
Following the conclusion of all 3v3 tournaments, 5v5 gameplay will commence, beginning on May 23 and running through Aug. 5. The 5v5 format will follow last seasonâs traditional format with conferences and single elimination bracket play and will include THE TIPOFF, THE TURN, THE TICKET, and the 5v5 NBA 2K League Playoffs. During two weeks of group play, teams will face off in smaller groups (three groups of six teams, one group of seven) within their conferences. After group play, the top four teams from each group will advance to bracket play, the first week of which will be played remotely. The best eight teams from that original group of 16 will then advance to in-person bracket play in Washington, D.C.
Hawks Talon GC returns to the virtual court on the back of their most successful year in 2022, having advanced to bracket play in three of four regular season tournaments and making the 3v3 NBA 2K League Playoffs for the first time in franchise history. On Jan. 26, Hawks Talon drafted Mark David Smith (MDS) with the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA 2K League Draft. The team also traded for 2022 NBA 2K League All-Star Sam Salyers (GRADIENT) and drafted DeJuan Queen (HIDEJUAN) with the 37th pick. The three new additions join Caesar Martinez (CEEZ), who won Player of the Week honors twice last season, and Juan Gonzalez (HOTSHOT), a five-year NBA 2K League veteran and 2019 All-NBA 2K League Second Team member acquired prior to the 2022 season.
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 Bangâs 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 CGâs 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 âTournament Mode,â 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: âWe 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.â
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 companyâs services. This event marks a pivotal moment set to highlight CGâs 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 MLBBâs Signature Competition, Liga LATAM. The companies have also worked together on Peruâs University Tournament INTERU 2023 and currently Community Gaming hosts significant activity of MLBB Tournaments from over 12 countries on a monthly basis.
eSports
Esports player age verification should be simple
Despite the continuing professionalisation of esports, misconceptions about player age persist â particularly of underage pros playing in professional esports.
Back in 2021, the PandaScore whitepaper dug into the data around player age in professional esports and found that the average age of a pro player was just under 24 years old. By comparison, the same report noted that the average age for a menâs professional footballer was about 26 years old.
While there is no great gulf in player ages between esports and traditional sports, thereâs more apprehension around this topic once thereâs a keyboard or controller involved. There are good reasons behind this focus, but the truth is that a simple and straightforward product makes player age verification easy.
The reason behind the focus on player age
Compliance with player age requirements has been a particular concern as legalised sports and esports betting rolls out across the US. These are completely reasonable concerns, partly because of the state-by-state nature of American regulation, but also due to past compliance issues in the likes of ITF tennis.
Age compliance isnât a challenge unique to esports. It does have younger players in the same way tennis does, so it’s a space that operators consider a potential risk area based on precedent. While it’s understandable to be vigilant about ensuring age compliance across your whole book, the reality in esports is itâs just like any other sport.
However, with this greater attention, itâs crucial for esports suppliers to have a simple, high-quality solution that is flexible for any jurisdiction â and not just treat it as a spreadsheet-based, tack-on service.
Importance in the US
Itâs abundantly clear that if you want to ensure compliance in the US space, player age verification isnât a nice to have, itâs an integral part of your product. Across each jurisdiction player age verification can vary â something weâve seen in Europe as well such as Swedenâs rule that a match must have 60% of players over the age of 18 for an operator to offer match bets.
In sports, itâs fairly straightforward to implement but has been an oversight from sports data providers in the past. Itâs quite easy to provide, it just requires collecting data from multiple, reputable sources outside of the match itself.
PandaScore has been collecting player age verification data since it was founded in 2017 to ensure compliance no matter the regulation, no matter the jurisdiction.
Embedding player age verification in your product
Ensuring age compliance was a founding principle for our product suite â we included it as a key datapoint in our API, which is the bedrock of our broader offering. Suppliers should have this embedded in their products, rather than an additional service.
PandaScore believes that offering player age verification as part of an API and integrated into your service means you can be more confident in your compliance not just for individual esports titles, but from match to match.
For us itâs simple: one of PandaScoreâs founding principles is to not rely on only one single data source, but leverage multiple quality data sources that we can trust. We have a longstanding and highly developed process that guarantees a level of accuracy for player age verification thatâs in line with regulation and gives operators the confidence that theyâre compliant. Our practice of using multiple data sources means that double and triple-checking information to ensure player age compliance is in our nature.
With player age verification built into an API, operators can leverage the data to match the compliance needs of any given jurisdiction. This can be done by integrating player age data via the API, it can be included in their feed via our odds product with the flexibility to add exclusions where necessary, or if an operators wants it in a simper form, it can be done via request.
Player age verification might seem like a simple item, but is a compliance matter thatâs essential to operating in a proper fashion. Noting the concerns and greater focus on player ages in esports, itâs something thatâs important to get right: player age verification should be entrenched in esports products themselves to give operators the flexibility and simplicity that they need.
Author: Oliver Niner, Head of Sales at PandaScore.
eSports
CS2 Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 SuperComputer: NaVi to bounce back after Blast Fall Final loss
Final: Natus Vincere (36.5%) to beat Team Vitality (28.1%)
Semifinal 1: Natus Vincere (52.6%) to beat MOUZ (16.3%)
Semifinal 2: Team Vitality (47.7%) to beat G2 Esports (18.7%)
Quarterfinal 1: G2 Esports (39.8%) to beat FaZe Clan (32.8%)
Quarterfinal 2: MOUZ (35.9%) to beat Eternal Fire (24.7%)
Group stage:Â
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Natus Vincere –Â 48.7% to finish 1st; 17.0% to finish 2nd; 84.1% to make playoffs
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Team Vitality –Â 40.8% to finish 1st; 17.4% to finish 2nd; 77.7% to make playoffs
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G2 Esports –Â 19.3% to finish 1st; 20.4% to finish 2nd; 56.7% to make playoffs
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MOUZ –Â 14.5% to finish 1st; 21.8% to finish 2nd; 53.0% to make playoffs
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FaZe Clan –Â 13.9% to finish 1st; 21.0% to finish 2nd; 50.2% to make playoffs
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Eternal Flame – 40.7% to finish 1st; 16.2% to finish 2nd; 40.7% to make playoffs
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Liquid –Â 16.3% to finish 7-8th; 35.7% to make playoffs
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Virtus.pro – 15.4% to finish 7-8th; 29.9% to make playoffs
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Astralis –Â 28.9% to finish 9-12th; 31.5% to make playoffs
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The MongolZ –Â 32.7% to finish 9-12th; 25.4% to make playoffs
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Complexity –Â 34.3% to finish 9-12th; 21.2% to make playoffs
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Heroic –Â 26.8% to finish 9-12th; 23.5% to make playoffs
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paiN –Â 36.5% to finish 13-16th; 21.0% to make playoffs
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FURIA –Â 36.4% to finish 13-16th; 20.9% to make playoffs
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9z –Â 44.7% to finish 13-16th; 14.6% to make playoffs
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Imperial – 49.1% to finish 13-16th; 13.9% to make playoffs
It has been quite the run for NaVi despite their loss with back to back grand finals in recent weeks but CSDB.ggâs predictive model suggests there will be no let up for the Ukrainian esports organisation.
G2 will also be looking to build more momentum in preparation for Majors season with NiKo on a quest to finally get over the line this year to win his first major title. Hopefully Rio wonât have to see a repeat of his reaction in the semifinals at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 where he punched a hole in a table after losing out to Team Vitality in a key moment.
However, the hosts of Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 may want to lockdown any nearby furniture and reinforce their desks if G2 are set for disappointment at the semifinals stage as predicted by the CSDB.gg SuperComputer.
A victory in Rio could be even more consequential for how the end of the year shapes up for the leading teams on the circuit. The Valve Global rankings have both teams close at the very top (NaVi at 1988 and G2 at 1953) meaning a win for either team could hand them a key advantage when it comes to who enters the Majors as top seed.Â
Back-to-back wins in T1 events for G2, should they prosper in Rio, would set the Berlin-based team on an incredible trajectory going into the winter months.
Meanwhile, Brazilian hopes for glory look slight according to the CSDB.gg SuperComputer with FURIA, the team co-owned by Neymar, having only been given a 20.9% chance of even making the playoffs.Â
They are the leading contenders to make an impact for the home crowd but there are other teams flying the flag for Brazil with paiN and Imperial also set to give it their best to give local fans something to cheer on.
In terms of forecasted matchups of note, G2 and FaZe Clan could offer up a fascinating encounter in the quarterfinals should both teams qualify, with each organisation rated as having a strong chance of making the semis with little to separate them should they meet.
How was the CSDB.gg CS2 Tournament SuperComputer created?
The CSDB.gg CS2 Tournament SuperComputer is a predictive model created using world ranking points, team quality ratings and performance trends. An element of randomness is also included in the model to avoid the best teams and players always winning, to reflect the fact that upsets can happen.
Every tournament is simulated 1,000 times with the results aggregated into a percentage rating of the chances teams or players have to achieve the predicted result.
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