eSports
London’s OVO Arena Wembley Set to Host BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024
![london’s-ovo-arena-wembley-set-to-host-blast-premier-spring-final-2024](https://recentslotreleases.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/128988-londons-ovo-arena-wembley-set-to-host-blast-premier-spring-final-2024.jpg)
BLAST has teamed up with Live Nation, one of the world’s largest live entertainment companies, along with leading business growth and destination agency London & Partners to bring the Spring Final to London in June 2024. The partnership forms part of BLAST’s ambition to create the best esports experiences by working closely with destinations and the biggest and best live entertainment partners.
The event will bring the world’s best esports teams and players from all across the world to compete in London – four years since BLAST’s last event in the UK’s capital with the city’s second largest indoor venue set to host Counter-Strike’s elite.
The announcement aligns with London & Partners’ ambition to position England’s capital as a global hub for leading esports and gaming events in the future. The UK currently has an 8% share of the global esports industry, which is set to reach $1.6 billion by the end of this year.
Andrew Haworth, Programme Director for BLAST Premier, said: “London is renowned for hosting world-leading events in sport, music and entertainment with the city now setting its sights on being a leading destination for esports. We look forward to working with London & Partners and Live Nation to achieve this aim. Bringing the first BLAST Premier arena event of 2024 to London is an important and exciting first step in this journey.
“The OVO Arena Wembley is a state-of-the-art facility and will provide fans with the perfect setting to witness the most talented Counter-Strike and esports players go head-to-head for a $425,000 total prize pool and chance to qualify for the highly-anticipated World Final in December 2024.”
Ailsa Buck, Head of Major Events and City Experience at London & Partners said: “London is a global hub for innovation and creativity. It’s a city that embraces new experiences and concepts; making this event the ideal partnership. We’re looking forward to welcoming BLAST back to the capital. We cannot wait to see how this partnership will allow us to continue our esports journey, as well as contribute to making London a place for both work and play.”
Sean Ryman, Vice President, Sport and Family Entertainment, said: “BLAST Premier’s arrival in the UK heralds the start of an exciting new partnership, a pioneering venture for Live Nation UK in the world of esports. We are elated to join forces with BLAST Premier, contributing to their ongoing expansion and groundbreaking initiatives in the live arena.”
The Spring Final 2024 will be the biggest Counter-Strike event to take place in the UK since the London Major 2018, which took place in the OVO Arena Wembley and saw Danish organisation Astralis crowned champions.
All eight teams that eventually qualify for the Spring Final will be competing for a massive prize pool of $425,000 and a place in the highly anticipated World Final in December 2024.
The first two days of the event will be played behind closed doors in the arena while the Friday-Sunday (June 14-16) will be played in front of a packed out arena for each day.
Tickets for the event will go on presale from Wednesday, 25th October and general sale from Friday, 27th October.
eSports
BETER and GRID Bring Advanced Data Visualizations to Esports Betting
![beter-and-grid-bring-advanced-data-visualizations-to-esports-betting](https://recentslotreleases.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/139585-beter-and-grid-bring-advanced-data-visualizations-to-esports-betting.jpeg)
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.
Colorado
Esports suppliers must lead from the front – PandaScore’s Colorado licence
![esports-suppliers-must-lead-from-the-front-–-pandascore’s-colorado-licence](https://recentslotreleases.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/139558-esports-suppliers-must-lead-from-the-front-pandascores-colorado-licence.png)
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-sponsors-pubg-mobile-rising-stars-season-4-to-support-emerging-esports-players-in-turkey](https://recentslotreleases.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/139522-huawei-appgallery-sponsors-pubg-mobile-rising-stars-season-4-to-support-emerging-esports-players-in-turkey.jpg)
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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