eSports
HAWKS TALON GC TO OPEN 2024 NBA 2K LEAGUE SEASON TONIGHT
Hawks Talon Will Begin 3v3 Gameplay During SLAM OPEN; Opening with Matches Against Nets GC and Cavs Legion GC.
Hawks Talon GC, the official NBA 2K League affiliate of the Atlanta Hawks, will begin the 2024 NBA 2K League season later tonight on Wednesday, Feb. 28, with matchups against Nets Gaming Club (6 p.m.) and Cavs Legion Gaming Club (7:30 p.m.) in 3v3 gameplay. All games throughout the season can be found on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch and Youtube channels. To find the full Hawks Talon schedule during SLAM OPEN, visit website.
Hawks Talon GC returns to the virtual court behind last year’s first overall pick, ‘MDS’, and four newcomers. In this year’s NBA 2K League Draft, Hawks Talon selected power forward Tyler ‘BaitPickk’ Montague with the 11th overall pick and four-year veteran Christopher ‘Duck’ Charles with the 35th overall pick. Prior to the draft in September, the team also acquired Ludlow ‘LOW’ Samuels and Elijah ‘UNDERRATEDGOAT’ Spears in separate trades.
“We are really happy with the group of guys we have this year,” said Hawks Talon Head Coach Ismael ‘MAELO’ Diaz-Tolentino. “The team has been working hard to get ready for these matchups and we are confident that we will accomplish many great things together. We have solid vets in ‘LOW’, ‘UNDERRATEDGOAT’, and ‘Duck’. These are players that have won in this league and understand what it takes. Additionally, the evolution of ‘MDS’ and the incredible potential rookie ‘BaitPickk’ has shown makes me feel very confident in this team’s ability to succeed.”
All 3v3 tournaments will be played beginning on February 28 and will run through April 27. This will include the SLAM OPEN, SWITCH OPEN, STEAL OPEN, and the 3v3 NBA 2K League Playoffs presented by Google Pixel. The 3v3 format will include five groups of five with mixed conferences for group play, and double elimination bracket play. At the end of one week of group play in each tournament, all 25 NBA 2K League teams and seven community teams will advance to a 32-team double elimination bracket, which will take place over two weeks.
The STEAL OPEN is the last chance qualifier for 3v3 playoffs and will feature 15 teams plus one amateur team from an open qualifier. It will feature over two days of single-elimination bracket play, with the top two teams advancing to the 3v3 playoffs.
Following the conclusion of all 3v3 tournaments, 5v5 gameplay will commence, beginning on May 8 and running through June 29. The 5v5 format will follow last season’s 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 presented by Google Pixel. 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 two teams from each group will advance to in-person bracket play in Washington, D.C.
Similar to THE STEAL, THE TICKET is the last chance qualifier for 5v5 playoffs and will feature 15 teams over two days of single-elimination bracket play. The top team from each conference will then advance to the 5v5 playoffs.
To stay up to date on Hawks Talon Gaming Club, visit HawksTalonGC and follow the team’s social channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
BETER, the leading provider of betting content and data, and GRID, a first-party esports live data provider, extend their partnership to bring advanced data visualizations to BETER’s esports offering, enhancing the betting experience for all enthusiasts around the globe
GRID widgets include visualizations such as The Map Winner Prediction Tracker, Series Scoreboard, LiveLog, and Comparison Widgets. The integration will also see a recently released GRID Stats Widget integrated into the BETER betting solutions, displaying various customizable statistics such as win rate, damage per round, First 5 kills, headshots, and many more.
Designed to be game title-agnostic, the GRID Widgets display real-time stats. They can be powered by any data source for any game in any genre, making them an entirely universal tool for data visualization across all esports content.
This new integration of data visualization will help bettors make more informed betting decisions and significantly increase their understanding of the game and its progress before, during, and after the game is live.
The widgets are versatile and fully customizable to match any partner’s branding and ensure the best experience can be scaled across mobile and desktop platforms.
Chuck Robinson, Chief Revenue Officer at BETER: “We are excited to expand our partnership with GRID, bringing advanced data visualizations to our esports offering. This collaboration allows us to offer our partners’ customers a more immersive and engaging betting experience, helping them interact with esports on a whole new level. By leveraging GRID’s real-time data and customizable widgets with comprehensive statistics, we’re setting a new standard in the betting landscape, ensuring that BETER continues to lead the way in innovative esports betting solutions.”
Mikael Westerling, Chief Sales Officer at GRID: “Together with BETER, we share a common vision for how the esports betting experience should be designed—immersive, authentic, interactive, and powered by official data. Data is a powerful tool for storytelling, and the GRID widgets are designed to make esports content more accessible to new fans while deepening engagement with existing audiences. By providing real-time, actionable insights directly from the game server to BETER, we deliver a next-level experience that truly resonates with the esports community.”
The post BETER and GRID Bring Advanced Data Visualizations to Esports Betting appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Esports betting in the United States is a yet to be fully tapped, and with more regulatory progress the total market and opportunity in esports continues to grow.
It’s why at PandaScore, we recently acquired our first license in the lucrative American market, in the esports-friendly state of Colorado. The move is a strong signal of our ambition in the US, but it also sets out our methodology for solving the uncertainty problem that US esports betting currently suffers from.
Supplier licensing should lead the way
The unknowns about what markets and lines can be offered are a key piece of the puzzle in many jurisdictions. Uncertainty around the legislation means operators are tentative to jump in with both feet. At PandaScore, we’re helping operators navigate US esports betting regulation on a state-by-state basis, so they can make business led decisions in markets with right balance of stability and opportunity.
Except for a few states, esports betting regulation is relatively new: there’s not a great deal of precedent to work from, and its quickly evolving nature means there’s likely more work to be done in the future. We plan to be at the forefront of making sure that esports betting works for the whole ecosystem: operators, suppliers, regulators and the betting public.
The regulatory framework across the country may be shifting at different paces, but almost all states are going in one direction: expansion.
Esports suppliers have a duty to show operators the way and give them the tools, knowledge and expertise to make the right decision. We don’t believe in going all guns blazing, but entering markets with some certainty around esports in a considered fashion.
We can be more confident that those specific markets are built for esports, with Colorado being PandaScore’s first step for several reasons.
Why Colorado
When deciding which market to enter, we consulted heavily with our customers and whittled it down to states that had the right mix of commercial opportunity, solid regulatory environment and straightforwardness in licensing.
Since regulating esports, Colorado has had a friendly framework for esports. The catalogue for regular betting includes a wide range of esports titles based on approved games and tournaments by the publisher or regulator – which follows some similarities to how traditional sports betting is structured.
The process itself was simple and clear, with clear terms and commercials that promote investment, entrepreneurship and innovation – all key ingredients for growing new markets and ambitious organisations to build new audiences.
Colorado is the natural next step in PandaScore’s service-minded, client-first approach. There’s already a generation of bettors who are seeking out esports betting products, esports suppliers need to be the source of knowledge and expertise that helps guide and amplify the esports ambitions of their clients.
Service-minded approach, client-led growth
We bring operators into the licensing conversation from the outset, exploring the licenses most valuable to them and then leveraging our lean, efficient operating model to get it done.
We’ve proven we’re serious about the US market, and that we can get a license efficiently, so if an operator desires a specific jurisdiction, we base our decisions on the revenue potential, give them a clear, no-spin picture of the market, and put in the hard work of licensing to provide our services in the US.
Player age verification as a mandatory service
A huge part of that no-spin picture is addressing the concern and risk around player age verification in esports. Compliance is paramount for suppliers and operators alike, so knowing the requirements from state to state is essential.
PandaScore has been offering player age verification for years and is well established on this front thanks to years of servicing jurisdictions like Australia and Sweden. We already have an API that clients use for peace of mind, and are beefing it up as a standalone service intended to support regulators and governing bodies to ensure compliance, confidence and growth.
Suppliers need to lead from the front for US esports betting to succeed. It’s not just about having the best product – they need to be an expert on relevant regulation, genuinely serve the expansion interests of clients and be a truly safe pair of hands that actively supports and serves operators, bettors and regulators alike.
Author: Oliver Niner, Head of Sales at PandaScore.
eSports
HUAWEI AppGallery Sponsors PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars Season 4 to Support Emerging Esports Players in Turkey
HUAWEI AppGallery this year sponsored PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars season 4, Turkey’s biggest amateur esports tournament. Held annually, PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars’s purpose is to identify and nurture new talent, as participants engage in battle on the PUBG Mobile esports platform. The Grand Finals concluded on 1 September.
AppGallery Sponsorship: Attracting Youth Talent to Esports
AppGallery hopes to promote esports among young players, enabling them to pursue a meaningful esports career through exposure to professional teams and an offer of a monetary prize.
“Esports are a growing phenomenon across younger generations of gamers, to the point that some of them prefer to watch others playing games, than playing those games themselves! As such, the esports essence of ‘sharing fun, healthy competition with friends’ deeply aligns with AppGallery’s identity and commitment towards the gaming community,” Jaime Gonzalo, VP Huawei Mobile Services Europe, said.
He added, “PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars has become a key event in the Turkish esports scene, where players can flaunt their skills in the exciting PUBG Mobile arena and gives them the opportunity to be noticed by professional teams. An attractive prize pool of 600,000 TRY is awarded across the tournament, offering support and a potential future career path to emerging talent.”
The prize pool was distributed across the top 16 teams, and the ‘MVP’ and ‘WWCD’, the top team from each match.
Grand Finals Highlights
The Grand Finals was a crucible of competition. From 31 August to 1 September, 16 teams competed to determine the Rising Stars champion. This phase was held at the ESA Espor Arena in Maslak over two offline days, to an onsite audience of 1,300 and over 20,000 live viewers.
The team HADDINI BILBAO won this PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars Grand Finals by just 1 point after 12 closely contested matches.
Tournament Recap
PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars Season 4 played a crucial role in discovering and supporting aspiring esports athletes. Reflecting the popularity and importance of this tournament, a whopping 5,000 teams participated in the First Round of the tournament. Held from 12 August to 19 August, this Qualification Period comprised three matches daily and a point-based system.
The Group Stage consisted of the top 32 teams from the first round and featured two groups with a six-day broadcast. Only 16 teams qualified for the Grand Finals – the final phase had a two-day broadcast.
The post HUAWEI AppGallery Sponsors PUBG MOBILE Rising Stars Season 4 to Support Emerging Esports Players in Turkey appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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