As of January 4, the Danish esports company BLAST has partnered with Epic Games to become the official operator of “Rocket League” esports. Epic’s choice to work with BLAST over the Saudi-Arabian-owned league operator ESL/FACEIT Group took many in the competitive gaming industry by surprise — and suggested that Saudi Arabia’s $38 billion investment in esports might not result in a full takeover of the industry, as many once believed.
BLAST began as a “Counter-Strike” tournament operator, but it has produced “Fortnite” events for Epic since 2021, managing the entirety of Epic’s Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) in 2022 and 2023. As part of this month’s “Rocket League” deal, the company will administer all event production, sales, operations and marketing for the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS), as well as manage the commercial rights to both the game and its esports competitions.
“We work in a lot of traditionally non-brand-friendly games, and managed to develop great commercial partnerships and programs,” said BLAST chief business officer Leo Matlock. “So to have one where perhaps some of those barriers aren’t there is great.”
Continue reading this article on digiday.com. Sign up for Digiday newsletters to get the latest on media, marketing and the future of TV.
The original post is at Marketing Archives – Digiday
Leave a Reply