eSports

CECC Texas “May Madness” Scores Record Growth Again in its Fourth Year

Published

7 months ago

May 7, 2024

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Winthrop University, Ball State University, St. Clair College, and Illinois State University Crowned as Commissioner’s Cup Champions at the largest scholastic esports festival globally

McDonald’s of North Texas, State Farm, Apple Music, Red Bull, U.S. Army 5th Brigade, Smoothie King, along with other world-class partners lend valuable support for event

Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG) concluded its fourth Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC) today crowning four new champions during the largest scholastic esports festival globally and celebrating another year of record growth. CECC Texas presented by McDonald’s welcomed more than 800 student-athletes representing 84 teams (up from 64 in 2023), including a record-breaking 19 conference champions, at Esports Stadium Arlington on May 2-5, along with thousands of fans. In total, 453 teams from 255 schools participated during the 2023-24 CECC season.

Champions included Winthrop University for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate through Generation Esports, Ball State University for Rocket League, St. Clair College for VALORANT, and Illinois State University for Overwatch 2®

“By elevating scholastic esports, we empower students, schools and conferences while fueling industry growth. This is a testament to the increasing interest from brands, media entities, publishers making this the ultimate destination for the scholastic esports and the gaming community.“ said Michael Schreck, CEO for CSMG. “CECC isn’t just a competition; we’re providing structure, recognition and endless opportunities to shape the future of esports.”

European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

Arlington Mayor Jim Ross joined Schreck on stage during the event along with Arminda and Anthony Grissett, Owner/Operators of McDonald’s of North Texas, to announce CECC will return to Esports Stadium Arlington in 2025, marking it the third straight year Texas will host this event.

CSMG also announced during CECC Texas it has joined forces with Capcom to launch the College Street FighterTM Tour during its 2024-25 academic year with the finalists competing at CECC Texas in 2025 throughout its May Madness event. Wim Stocks will serve as the Commissioner of the College Street Fighter Tour and bring his 20 years of experience in college esports to create a dynamic and engaging format of competitive gaming.

CECC Texas offered something for everyone including the Texas High and Middle School Esports Championships, the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) championship finals across League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League, and VALORANT, open tournaments for Street Fighter 6, Teamfight Tactics and HALO Infinite 2v2, the Smoothie King Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Open, through Generation Esports with a prize pool up to $5,000, gaming-themed onsite activations, and various industry panels.

McDonald’s of North Texas returned for the second year in a row as the presenting sponsor with various promotions and giveaways through the McDonald’s App as well as awarding a free custom @McDonalds PC built by @Oasis PC’s.

“McDonald’s of North Texas was thrilled to once again sponsor CECC and to see first-hand the incredible experience this tournament brings to the teams and fans nationwide,” said David Floyd, Owner-Operator with McDonald’s of North Texas. “As local business owners, it’s an honor that our community could serve as the center of the esports world this weekend. We were also delighted to add a delivery service this year, which was a great success. This feature allowed fans to order food and continue in their CECC experience.”

The ESPORTSU Collegiate Awards took center stage throughout the weekend recognizing leaders who are driving the ecosystem forward, including:

Commissioner of the Year – J.J. Myers (NACE)
Community Ambassador – Yugina Yun (Gen.G)
Club of the Year – Indiana University
Club President of the Year – TJ Stephens (University of Georgia)
Club Impact Award – Arizona State University
Rising Star Award – Greyson Harding (Michigan State University)
Coach of the Year – Ethan Stone (Indiana University)
Director of the Year – Chris Bilski (Michigan State University)
Program Impact – Michigan State University
Ally of the Year – Christopher Turner (Southern University)
Program of the Year – St Clair College
CECC School of the Year – Winthrop University

The ESPORTSU Awards Committee Members included Kyler Tandal (ESPORTSU), ToniAnn Convertino (ESPORTSU), Nikita Bair (Syracuse University),Joey Gawrysiak (Syracuse University), Aaron Colaiacomo (Fisher College), Adam Antor (Ferris State), and Chase Neukam (St Cloud State University).

Finally, the Aurora Series, dedicated to supporting all who identify with a marginalized gender, made its debut at CECC Texas with the University of Houston Scarlet defeating the University of North Texas in a thrilling VALORANT match 13-11 on the main stage.

“The power of esports was on full display this weekend as many colleges are continuing to push this as the ‘new sport’ on campuses across the nation,” said Angela Bernhard Thomas, Chief Esports Officer for CSMG. “The students arrived in all their team gear, the fans came out to cheer, and the brands integrated into the competition. We’re excited to continue to shape the future of the ecosystem.”

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate through Generation Esports – Winthrop University

2nd seeded Winthrop University battled back after losing the first game to beat defending champion and 5th seeded Fisher College (Northeast), 3-1. Winthrop never backed down throughout the tournament, especially in the Grand Finals with Carlos “Sonix” Perez on the Fisher squad, who is considered a top 10 player globally in Super Smash. Bharat “Lima” Chintipall, a sophomore majoring in computer science from Dallas, TX, was named MVP for the tournament.

Winthrop advanced to the finals beating the 6th seeded University of Texas-Arlington 2-0, while Fisher College (Northeast) denied its fellow students and number one seeded Fisher College (East) 2-1 in best-of-3 series.

Rocket League – Ball State University

In one of the most epic Grand Finals in Rocket League, the top seeded Ball State University needed overtime in the final game of the best-of-7 series to beat the three seeded Boise State University, 4-3. No team won a game by more than one goal throughout the match. Arlin “Oath” Burns, a graduate student majoring in clinical mental health counseling from Westfield, IN, was named MVP for the tournament.

In the semi-finals in the best-of-7 series, Ball State bounced the 5th seeded University of Akron 4-0, while Boise State knocked out the 7th seeded Fisher College, 4-2.

VALORANT – St. Clair College

The 5th seeded St. Clair College completed the sweep in a best-of-3 series to defeat 3rd seeded Blinn College, 2-0. The Saints from Windsor, Canada, become the first non-U.S. college to win a CECC championship. Tanner “geeza” McGhee, a freshman majoring in business from Camarillo, CA, was named MVP for the tournament.

In the semi-finals in the best-of-3 series, St. Clair edged out the 8th seeded Winthrop University, 2-1, while Blinn College held off the 2nd seeded Fisher College (White), 2-1.

Overwatch 2 – Illinois State University

The 6th seeded Illinois State University captured their second CECC trophy in three years after taking down the 5th seeded Northwood University, 3-0, in a best-of-5 series. The Redbirds captured their first title at CECC Atlanta in 2022. Denis “Lethal” Tari, a sophomore majoring in business administration from Dubai, took home MVP honors for the tournament.

In the semi-finals in the best-of-5 series, Northwood upset the top seed Winthrop University, 3-1, while Illinois State advanced by sweeping the 2nd seeded Fisher College Esports, 3-0.
Semi-Finals (best-of-5)

Brand Partners and Talent Elevate CECC Texas

CECC Texas grew its partners from 2023 with the support of McDonald’s of North Texas, State Farm, U.S. Army 5th Brigade, Smoothie King, CTRL, Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau, Apple Music. Zipchair Gaming, Dairy MAX, Dallas Cowboys Game Time presented by Lenovo, Cisco, Red Bull, Oasis PC, Cirkul, Grand Canyon University, and U.S. Army ROTC, who activated throughout the event.

The broadcast team featured a stacked group of professional esports hosting, desk analyst, and casting talent. The event was stage hosted by Elyse “Herculyse” Herrera and floor hosted by Mathew “Septilence” Corfee II. The desk analysts included Carlos “Carlos Ivan” Braadt, Miles “KilomilesIRL” Catenza, Logan “Catinator” Brown, Cassandra “Chixxa” Meltsch, and Madison “N3RDYBIRD” Benge. Shoutcasters included Keegan “ClutchKey” Ohta and Jesse “Twinsalty” Brawders for Overwatch 2, Samuel “SamTalkz” DeLoach II and Sierra “ Zhobiii” Fisbee for VALORANT, Oliver “Bass” Bass and Jeffrey “TheDangerTaco” Skalamera for Rocket League, and Phil “EE” Visu and Saeed Hassan “Sai” Shareef for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Creators also streamed their own CECC Texas experiences directly to their audiences on their channels. Well-known Twitch personalities included Hungrybox for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, TenacityTV for Rocket League, QuarterJade for VALORANT, and Flats for Overwatch 2®, creating a new engagement platform to build college esports fandom.

The Road to Texas featured official CECC sanctioned tournaments including the CECC Midwest Online Regional, CECC East Regional presented by the US Army and Army ROTC at Helix eSports in Foxborough, Mass. CECC South Regional, CECC West Regional, the Big Esports Conference live championship event at The Ohio State University and Game Arena featuring fourteen Big 10 schools, the Atlantic Coast Esports Conference online Rocket League championship, the Western Cactus League live championship at Grand Canyon University, the Military Services Academy qualifier, the ESPORTSU n’ I All Womens Qualifier, and the very competitive Last Chance Qualifier.

Champions representing participating conferences that receive automatic bids include the: Atlantic Coast Esports Conference, Big Esports Conference, Big Sky Conference, Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference, East Coast Conference, Great Lakes Esports Conference, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletics Conference, Mid-American Conference, Mid-Atlantic Esports Conference, Midwest Esports Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Mountain West Conference, National Esports Collegiate Conferences, National Junior College Athletics Association Esports, Peach Belt Conference,,Western Cactus League and Western Esports Conference

Full list of CECC Texas-qualified teams (in order of seeding):

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate (through Generation Esports)

Fisher College (East), Winthrop University, Northwood University, University of California-Riverside, Fisher College (Northeast), University of Texas-Arlington, Lubbock Christian University, Manchester College (Indiana), University of Akron, New Jersey City College, Oakland University, Wichita State University, Quinnipiac University, Sacramento State University, University of Houston, University of Miami-Ohio, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, San Jose State University, Marist College, University of North Texas, Southern New Hampshire University, Illinois State University, Arizona State University, and Michigan Tech University.

Rocket League

Ball State University, Boise State University, Indian River State College, Nichols College, University of Akron, Lubbock Christian University, Maryville University, St. Clair College, Davenport College, Fisher College, Syracuse University, Indiana University, University of Arizona, Old Dominion University, University of Air Force, Northern Arizona University, San Jose State University, Staten Island College, Montevallo University, and Saint Xavier University.

Valorant

Blinn College, Simon Fraser College, Northwood University, Fisher College (White), St. Clair College, Fisher College, San Jose State University, Winthrop University, Texas A&M University, Brewton-Parker College, Converse University, Boise State University, Grand Canyon University, Purdue University, Northeastern University, Utica University, Manhattan College, University of North Texas, University of Air Force, and Saint Xavier University.

Overwatch® 2

Wintrhop University, Maryville University, Fisher College, Northwood University, Arizona State University, Illinois State University, University of California-Irvine, Fisher College (Freaks), Converse University, Boise State University, Blinn College, Bryant and Stratton College, University of Miami-Ohio, Southern New Hampshire University, University of Maryland, University of Texas-Arlington, Grand Canyon University, Cleary University, University of Army-West Point, and Salt Lake Community College.

eSports

IESF Concludes 16th Ordinary General Meeting in Riyadh

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

George Miller

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

The International Esports Federation (IESF) held its 16th Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) on November 18, bringing together over 150 delegates from the member federations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Before the official start of the assembly, IESF welcomed representatives from the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee (SOPC) and the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF). Abdulaziz Baeshin, CEO of SOPC presented Saudi Arabia’s progress in Esports and sports development and their vision moving forward. Frank Weber, Director of Corporate Marketing at EWCF discussed the success of the EWCF and highlight upcoming plans for the future.

In his opening speech, IESF President HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud expressed gratitude for the number of delegates who attended the assembly. He reflected on the federation’s success and achievements over the past year, the key areas for improvement, and the necessity of continued close collaboration among members.

The first session of the assembly continued with reviewing motions submitted by the members and voting on their acceptance or rejection. The members also voted to grant Full Membership status to Canada, Germany, Latvia, and Malta.

The second session of the OGM was dedicated to electing key positions within the IESF Board and committees. The results are:

Board Member: Mr. Samart Benjamin Assarasakorn
Treasurer: Mr. Daniel Wen Jun Loy

Membership Committee Members:

Mr. Soufiane El Filali
Mr. Jaroslav Melishek

Audit, Risk, and Governance Committee:

Chair: Mr. Tomas Gabris
Members: Mr. Jacopo Ierussi and Mr. Stevan Nenad Rosic

Regulatory Committee Chair:

Mr. Ido Orel Brosh

In his concluding statement, IESF General Secretary Boban Totovski congratulated the assembly on a productive and democratic meeting. He expressed his appreciation for the valuable insights shared by members and their dedication to the growth of the IESF.

“This year’s assembly demonstrated the strength of our community and the shared vision that drives IESF forward. I thank everyone for their contributions to a democratic and smooth process, and I look forward to welcoming more member federations to our family next year and even greater success” said Totovski.

The OGM 2024 in Riyadh was another step forward in IESF’s mission to unite the Esports world under a shared vision. With the growing number of national federations, the IESF continues to cement its role as the largest Esports family.

The post IESF Concludes 16th Ordinary General Meeting in Riyadh appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Chad Kinlay Chief Marketing Officer TrafficGuard

Influencers, Content and eSports: Unleashing the Power of Dynamic Strategies in the eSports Ecosystem

Published

4 days ago

November 18, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

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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.

Asia

8Bit Creatives partners with NODWIN Gaming as the exclusive talent partner for DreamHack India

Published

2 weeks ago

November 7, 2024

George Miller

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

8Bit Creatives, India’s leading esports consulting and talent management agency, has announced its partnership with NODWIN Gaming, a leader in new-age youth entertainment, gaming, and esports, as the exclusive Talent Partner for DreamHack India 2024.

With this partnership, 8Bit Creatives will leverage its significant reach in the Indian gaming, esports and youth communities through its prominent and talented roster of creators. These creators will create content leading up to the festival and also host meet-and-greet sessions.

India’s biggest gaming festival, DreamHack India, is set to take place from 15th to 17th November at the Hitex Exhibition Centre in Hyderabad, marking its fifth edition. For half a decade, the India edition of the global festival has become one of the most anticipated events of the Indian gaming ecosystem. Bringing together a plethora of events, including esports tournaments, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) events, cosplay competitions, music concerts, and stand-up comedy, DreamHack India is the celebration of gaming, esports, pop-culture, and entertainment.

8Bit Creatives, CEO and founder Animesh Agarwal said “DreamHack India is one of the most prominent events in the Indian gaming and esports calendar and we’re proud to be the exclusive talent partners for it. This is further recognition of 8Bit Creatives’ ability to meaningfully engage the gaming and youth audiences across the country. Our belief in working with the right creators who create experiences that resonate with the youth audiences distinguishes our offerings and we can’t wait to share what we have in store for DreamHack India 2024 with our audiences!”

This is not the first time that 8Bit Creatives will partner with DreamHack India. The organisation was also the talent partner for the event in 2022.

Commenting on the partnership, NODWIN Gaming, Co-founder and MD Akshat Rathee said “Our vision at NODWIN Gaming is to create unforgettable experiences for the youth, and DreamHack has proven to be the ultimate platform to realise that vision, bringing together gaming, entertainment, and community in an immersive celebration. We’re thrilled to have 8Bit Creatives as our exclusive Talent Partner for DreamHack India 2024. It’s especially exciting to welcome iconic creators like Mortal, who joined us in our very first edition, back for this landmark fifth year, alongside fan favourites like Snax, Kaashvi, Thug, and Payal. These creators bring a unique energy that connects deeply with our fans and elevates every moment. Their presence underscores our commitment to crafting electrifying experiences year after year, building on the momentum of events like BGMS and past DreamHack editions. Together with 8Bit and this powerhouse lineup, we’re setting the stage for an unforgettable event that will bring fans and creators closer than ever before!”

8Bit Creatives’s content and esports division S8UL became the only organisation in the year to win ‘Content Group of the Year’ award for the third consecutive year at the Esports Awards 2024. Additionally, they are the only organisation from India to ever win an Esports Award in any category. Earlier this year, gaming content creators from 8Bit Creatives including Naman Mathur, Payal Dhare and Animesh “Thug” Agarwal were invited for a meet and greet session with the honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

The organisation has been at the forefront of India’s gaming and content ecosystem with its extensive range of services, including talent management, campaign curation and execution, brand activations and more.

The post 8Bit Creatives partners with NODWIN Gaming as the exclusive talent partner for DreamHack India appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.