03 Sep Piqué and Ibai acquire Superliga spot, FaZe Clan and OpTic announce collaboration | ESI Digest #58
Each week, ESI Digest breaks down the weekly happenings in the esports industry, making sense of things so you don’t have to. As well as being housed on YouTube, ESI Digest is available on all major podcast platforms and is also available in written form below.
On this week’s ESI Digest we cover, Astralis selling its Superliga spot, FaZe Clan and OpTic’s merchandise collaboration, Jesse Lingard launching JLINGZ esports, the LPL’s partnership with DesignStudio, plus Arena of Valor’s esports ecosystem expansion.
Kosmos and Piqué partner with Ibai to purchase Astralis Superliga spot
European esports organisation Astralis has sold its Spanish academy team Astralis Stormbringers to sports and entertainment company Kosmos.
As part of the purchase, Twitch streamer Ibai Llanos has teamed up with the company and will be a co-owner of the team. Moreover, professional footballer and Kosmos President Gerard Piqué has been named as a co-owner.
Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard debuts JLINGZ esports
Image source: UKIN
Developer Ubisoft has announced that professional footballer Jesse Lingard has acquired UK-based esports organisation Audacity Esports.
As part of the deal, the Rainbow Six Siege roster — temporarily named Team JLE — will be rebranded to JLINGZ esports and compete in the next season of the UK and Ireland Nationals (UKIN).
FaZe Clan and OpTic Gaming announce merchandise collaboration
Los Angeles-based organisation Faze Clan has announced a limited-edition collaboration with Texas-born OpTic Gaming.
The joint project will see the pair release a limited-edition merchandise collection that ‘pays homage to the organisations’ brotherly relationship’. The collection includes a range of cross-branded clothing and other items.
LPL partners with DesignStudio, unveils visual rebrand
Image credit: JD Sports
The Chinese League of Legends Pro League (LPL) has unveiled a visual rebrand before the 2021 LPL Summer Finals.
The league partnered with London-based branding agency DesignStudio for the redesign. The firm is responsible for the lion’s share of Riot Games’s recent LoL Esports league rebrands, including 2018’s LEC, as well as 2020’s LLA and LCK updates.
Arena of Valor expands esports ecosystem to include Honor of Kings teams
Image credit: Arena of Valor
Mobile MOBA game Arena of Valor has expanded its esports ecosystem to allow Honor of Kings teams into the 2022 Arena of Valor World Cup (AWC).
According to the release, the combination of both titles is expected to bolster global competition within the scenes. Exact details regarding qualification for the tournament has yet to be revealed, however, Tencent Games did confirm that the AWC will use a specific esports version of the title.
ESI Digest is part of the ESI Podcast Network, a collection of podcasts encompassing the esports industry. For deep dives into the major areas of esports with subject matter experts, check out ESI Focus. For conversations with key personnel and major stakeholders in esports, ESI Insight is the series for you.
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