The fastest 5G Network in the World just got bigger and better. Experience high-speed, low-latency gameplay on Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband.

Verizon announced a huge leap forward in this new era of technology-led disruption & innovation by expanding coverage of the 5G service built to be the 21st century infrastructure that will shape the future of next-level gaming.

Verizon continues to lead the industry with its 5G Ultra Wideband service – the fastest 5G in the world – built for gamers. It’s important to remember that not all services are created equal. Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband boasts throughputs 25x faster than 4G and, as the technology matures, it is expected to handle data volumes 100 times larger than today’s capabilities, and ultra-low latencies, which is the time it takes for a signal to make a round trip from point A to point B.

We are an automotive company that takes inspired design, relentless innovation and uninhibited performance and turns them into passionate, moving experiences. But, that’s only part of our DNA.

We’re equally dedicated to offering exceptional customer experiences. And in doing so, creating loyalty throughout the world—not just with the people who buy our vehicles, but the people in the communities around us.

Yes, our unique contributions have moved the entire automotive industry forward. But, we never forget about giving back. That’s why we strive to empower people’s lives, help to preserve the environment and donate to numerous causes. These are the things that matter to us—the things that drive us every day.

WE ARE A MUSIC LICENSING PLATFORM
BUILT FOR CONTENT CREATORS

eBeatz is filled with beats and tracks specifically produced for creators; whether for an intro to your video, the background song in your vlog, or the tracks playing while you game. You’ll find something for just about anything you could need, and it doesn’t stop there.

Our Premium Subscription enables you to use our music catalog in your content that you produce, and monetize that content. We produce or purchase the rights to the music in our catalog, giving you peace of mind when you use it. Our platform communicates with Twitch and YouTube’s ContentID systems to verify and protect our users and the integrity of their subscriptions. With eBeatz Premium, you can stream the music on eBeatz or download it to be used in your video content.

Thom “F.” Badinger

Thom “F.” Badinger has been an active commentator for almost a decade, and a gamer for much, much, longer than that. Spending his early years as a broadcaster for a MOBA, he’s now a rising fixture in the greater esports scene. A mainstay host of the RLCS, F. can also be seen casting Valorant, Call of Duty, PUBG Mobile, and a slew of other titles, as well streaming on his own channels. Outside of on-camera work, F. has touched virtually all sides of the industry: shifting behind the camera to produce and direct, actual game design and balance, league and tournament operations, community/influencer management, etcetera. F. leads with passion and respect for the community first and foremost, and brings that to work every time.

Welcome to Matrix Keyboards, home of the leading Esports gaming keyboards and specialized keycaps! Here at Matrix Keyboards we aim to bring all gamers with top of the line equipment to enhance your gaming experience!

Matrix Keyboards is a new gaming company started in 2018 driven by the rising demands of high quality Esports products. All of us here at Matrix Keyboards have been gaming our whole lives and truly care about the development and future of the gaming community! With the competitive gaming industry quickly rising, we are raising the bar on what gamers should expect from their gaming equipment by providing the most innovative and state of the art technology. Whether you are playing competitively or for fun, we believe you shouldn’t settle for anything other than the best gaming equipment available. We have designed our equipment with some of the finest products on the market to date and will continue to produce only the highest quality work. We take pride in developing exactly what’s desired in order to play with the most comfort and to have the most fun while we also focus on engineering products with the best quality to create the ultimate experience for all types of gamers.

Founded in 2017, RESPAWN has become a leader within the gaming industry, brought to you by office furniture experts with over 25 years of experience creating only the highest quality of products. RESPAWN’s product assortment includes gaming chairs, desks, rockers, recliners, monitor arms, floorpads, greenscreens and more.

RESPAWN aims to offer the gaming community the highest quality of ergonomic gaming furniture products at affordable prices whether you’re a content creator, professional player or casual player. We pride ourselves on providing quick delivery and amazing customer service.

Scuf Gaming®, global leader and innovator in esports and winner of Esports Industry Awards “Esports Hardware Provider of the Year” Award for 2016, provides tactical gear for elite gamers where over 90% of the top professional gamers in the world use SCUF.

Selling high-performance customized gaming controllers and accessories for PC and console, SCUF offers a number of functional and design features custom built to increase hand use and improve gameplay. Built to specification, SCUF controllers cater for competitive and casual gamers who recognize that one size does not fit all.

Today, SCUF Gaming’s® innovations are covered by more than 90 granted patents and designs, and another 50+ pending patent applications that protect 4 key areas: back control functions, trigger control mechanisms, thumbstick control area and handles, and side action controls.

Scuf Gaming is the official controller partner of major gaming leagues, including CWL, MLG, ESL, UMG, Gfinity and EGL. With operations and production in North America and Europe, Scuf Gaming also provides a variety of accessories and apparel specifically designed for elite gamers.

Scuf Gaming®, global leader and innovator in esports and winner of eSports Industry Awards “Best Hardware Award” for 2016, provides tactical gear for elite gamers where over 90% of the top professional gamers in the world use SCUF.

Selling high-performance customized gaming controllers and accessories for PC and console, SCUF offers a number of functional and design features custom built to increase hand use and improve gameplay. Built to specification, SCUF controllers cater for competitive and casual gamers who recognize that one size does not fit all.

The SCUF controller has features, which are covered by 36 granted patents, and another 69 pending; protecting 3 key areas of a controller: back control functions and handles, trigger control mechanisms and thumbstick control area.

Scuf Gaming is the official controller partner of major gaming leagues, including CWL, MLG, ESL, UMG, Gfinity and EGL. With operations and production in North America and Europe, Scuf Gaming also provides a variety of accessories and apparel specifically designed for elite gamers.

Live CGI drives up the value of your brand in two ways – By letting you create content faster and by keeping your message at the top of your community’s social media feed. Our software product has been used around the world to help brands and leagues reach their community with high-quality content. Live CGI has the tools you need to create the content your community wants.

LiveCGI is the ultimate tool that allows brands to be flexible to the quickly changing needs of content creators and their consumers. The Update Room is Live CGI’s “AT HOME” virtual studio. This product requires minimal technical ability to run on a simple gaming laptop. It is a unique way for players, teams, and advertisers to connect and keep brand continuity with no need to travel to a specific location to film. We help brands adapt with the times and sustains continuity, allowing them to thrive through any circumstance.

Awards Criteria

Please select a category to view the criteria for each award

Community Creative Industry On Air Talent Pro

Grind Gaming’s mission is to break down the high barriers in the eSports industry and create platforms that open doors for individuals and groups in pursuit of a professional gaming career. By providing customers with opportunities, conveniences, and reliability that were not offered in the past.

52 weeks. 52 influencers. 52 life-changing opportunities. eFuse was founded by gamers, for gamers eFuse was founded by gamers, for gamers. All throughout 2020 and beyond, eFuse is committed to providing life-changing opportunities #ForTheGamers. Sit back, relax, pull out your favorite beverage, and enjoy all the best content from the eFuse community. With the lounge you can:

Stay up-to-date on everything gaming, Be discovered by fans, teams, & brands. Get your own content featured Network with other gamers and professionals. Grow & learn from an authentic community

Ross Thompson
‘ TommyT999’

Ross Thompson also known as “TommyT999” is a video game industry veteran who is now running his own business & creating/publishing content via his YouTube channel TommyT999. Fully focused on video games content across games both new & old, spanning all formats & genres the channel hosts some of the biggest most incredible plays gaming series running on YouTube at this time & he covers across a wide variety of games including Call of Duty, Rainbow Six, Fortnite, PUBG, Rocket League & Fifa to name but a few. Working within the industry for the length of his career to date, in many companies all dedicated to growing the world of video games & esports he has a vast knowledge & experience of the industry & within his current role, every day he is watching the best clips the best players & gamers have to offer in the world of online competitive gaming.

Bryce Blum

Bryce is the founding partner of ESG Law, the world’s first dedicated esports law firm, where he represents preeminent esports teams, talent, and institutions. Bryce is also a founding partner at Theorycraft, a creative and strategic advisory firm focused on helping major brands, sports teams and owners, and investors on how to successfully enter and navigate the esports space. Bryce’s work spans across the esports landscape; he has worked on major deals involving every esports title, and his clients range from long-standing, endemic esports entities to marquee sports, media, and entertainment companies looking to capitalize on the explosive growth of the industry. Bryce is a contributing writer for ESPN, and drives industry standards as a thought leader on key legal and business issues facing all aspects of the esports ecosystem. Bryce was named to the 2018 classes of the Forbes 30 under 30 and Sports Business Journal/Daily 40 under 40.

Chris Mead

Chris Mead is Twitch’s Senior Director of Partnerships for EMEA, where he works with broadcasting partners ranging from individuals to developers, publishers, and organizations. Chris’s expertise lies in live and VOD content licensing, esports and go-to market strategy development. Prior to joining Twitch, he competed professionally in Call of Duty tournaments between 2008-2012 and worked for a full service digital agency in London.

Justin Dellario

Currently the Head of Twitch Esports, Justin Dellario looks after Twitch’s first-party esports content development and business programs, strategic business partnerships, and technology development. Before Twitch, Justin lead esports Marketing at Razer where he oversaw sponsorships and marketing. Justin is active in sitting on several industry panels and boards helping to shape the future of the esports industry.

Duncan Ironmonger

Duncan is CEO and co-founder of Scuf Gaming. He oversees the company’s overall business operation, vision, product design, and growth. With over 15 years of experience in telecom and technology, Duncan decided to pursue his passion for video games and made a switch to the gaming products space when he founded Scuf Gaming in 2011. At the time, professional gaming was still in its infancy, and Scuf effectively created a new market for professional, feature rich, customized gaming controllers. He developed key relationships within the professional gaming community to advance controller design and deepen Scuf’s presence in the growing esports market. He is named on over 100 controller patents and has leveraged Scuf’s intellectual property to expand the business through key partnerships with other major gaming peripheral companies.

Christina Alejandre

Christina Alejandre is an executive consultant in esports and video game publishing space. Prior to this, she served as General Manager of ELEAGUE and Vice President of esports for Turner Sports. In this role, she lead the development and strategy for ELEAGUE, a transformative esports tournament brand created in partnership with IMG. Alejandre has two decades of years of experience in video games and new media, driving business development for global companies. She previously served as a consultant for Electronic Sports League where she identified and developed the core elements to establish the company’s long-term growth in North America. In addition, she previously held several high-ranking positions overseeing licensing and partner management, publishing and esports at Turbine and Warner Bros. Games. She also has led business development for 38 Studios and Octopi after working on interactive licensing and product development at Nickelodeon and Viacom

Alaric Choo

Secretlab was started by former competitive Starcraft II players Ian and Alaric who have applied their analytical and strategic mindset to gaming chairs, taking Secretlab from 1 country to 50 in just under 4 years. Under Alaric, who is the company’s Partnerships & Technical Director, Secretlab has signed industry-shaking esports partnerships with Riot Games for their global League of Legends tournaments, as well as world-renowned teams such as Cloud9 and Team Secret; pioneering collaborations with pop culture icons including HBO’s Game of Thrones and Warner Bro.’s Batman; and even in the electronic dance music industry with renowned EDM producer deadmau5.

Ryan Hart

A fighting game legend has joined the ranks of our Esports Awards Panel. Ryan Hart has been a part of the fighting game community for over 25 years and is now a world class player, caster and presenter. He started his career in 1994 and is possibly the world’s first professional player, winning himself hundreds of titles around the world in the Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, King of Fighters and Tekken series. Ryan is one of the most accomplished fighting games players in the world, holding 4 Guinness World Records including most international competition wins and most countries victorious in around the world. Ryan is also a multi-lingual event host, influencer and commentates at some of the biggest tournaments. In addition to his impressive resume, Hart works as a project coordinator and content creator for ESL’s main products. With his long career within esports and the video game industry, he has also had the opportunity to co-author a book and work full time for top video game publishers such as Sega of Europe and Nintendo of Europe.

Anton Ferraro

For the past 13 years, Anton has worked exclusively in esports for organizations that include Riot Games & Major League Gaming. During this time he has supported the production of over 100 live events, developed thousands of hours of content on behalf of sponsors, and pushed strategic initiatives across for a wide array of projects including streaming, content acquisition and business development.

Currently, Anton is driving communications efforts for Central Esports at Riot Games. In this capacity, he organizes the messaging strategy for the 13 competitive leagues with the goal of elevating the perception of esports across the globe. In the past year, Anton has supported Riot Esports’ initiatives that include thought leadership, partnership amplification, and earned media strategy for major global events such as the League of Legends World Championship and the Mid-Season Invitational.

Rishi Chadha

With over 10+ years of experience in the gaming industry, Rishi has worked on everything from distribution platforms to game publishers. As the Global Head of Gaming Partnerships, Rishi brings exceptional content from global gaming leagues, esports franchises, publishers & developers, and game communities to fans in real time, while driving reach and revenue for these strategic partners and Twitter. In 2018, he launched strategic partnerships with Activision Blizzard across the Overwatch League and Call of Duty World League, Riot Games, ESL, DreamHack, and FACEIT.

Prior to joining Twitter in 2017, he spent time at Mobcrush, where he grew the mobile games live streaming platform to over 1 million monthly active users within 30 days of launch. As the vice president of content partnerships at Major League Gaming, he helped launch the company’s live streaming platform, MLG.tv, and led strategic partnerships with top publishers, including Valve, to create programs like the first North American CS:GO major, MLG Columbus. Prior to Major League Gaming, Rishi focused his career on elevating the visibility of the gaming community at notable organizations such as Machinima and Gunnar Optiks. Rishi is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, where he received a BA in Economics.

Ryan Wyatt

Ryan oversees three businesses at YouTube, which includes Gaming, Telco and Tech, as well as the growing Virtual Reality business. Ryan leads a team from around the world to manage global Gaming Publisher partnerships, Top Gaming Content Creators, live streamers and Esports Leagues. In addition to his Gaming role, Ryan leads the VR/AR and Telco & Tech businesses overseeing global strategy, content and partnerships, budget development, P&L, and cross-functional work for these respective businesses.

Ryan joined YouTube in 2014 to create the Gaming vertical, and has since lead Gaming at YouTube to be the most watched Gaming content platform in the world, and has also done the same for the Virtual Reality video business on YouTube.

Previously, Ryan worked in senior roles with major gaming industry companies, including Vice President of Programming with Major League Gaming and Head of Live and eSports at Machinima. As a prominent Esports personality, Ryan is known for his strategic contributions in growing the Esports scene while in his former roles, and as a New York Times Best Selling Author for his work on OpTic Gaming: The Making of Esports Champions. Ryan also was listed on Forbes 30 under 30 in 2014 for his work in the Gaming industry.

Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis has been the definitive esports journalist for over a decade, starting at forgotten blogs like Source Junky, working his way into sites like GotFrag, Tek-9 and Cadred, spearheading the Daily Dot’s foray into esports, before finally becoming a TV anchor for Turner Sports. Breaking stories that focus on the aspects of esports people would rather ignore, such as match-fixing, contract disputes, exploitation of players and predatory practices, his work isn’t always welcome but is certainly necessary. Nominated for multiple awards, his first win came in 2016 winning the 2016 Esports Journalist of the Year.

Ross Thompson

Ross Thompson also known as “TommyT999” is a video game industry veteran who is now running his own business & creating/publishing content via his YouTube channel TommyT999. Fully focused on video games content across games both new & old, spanning all formats & genres the channel hosts some of the biggest Top 10 gaming series running on YouTube at this time & he covers across a wide variety of games including Call of Duty, Rainbow Six, Fortnite, PUBG, Rocket League & Fifa to name but a few. Working within the industry for the length of his career to date, in many companies all dedicated to growing the world of video games & esports he has a vast knowledge & experience of the industry & within his current role, every day he is watching the best clips the best players & gamers have to offer in the world of online competitive gaming.

Working within the industry for the length of his career to date, in many companies all dedicated to growing the world of video games & esports he has a vast knowledge & experience of the industry & within his current role, every day he is watching the best clips the best players & gamers have to offer in the world of online competitive gaming.

Alan Brice

Alan ‘Bricey’ Brice is a professional host and commentator within the esports industry with over 7 years’ experience. Starting out as a player in a local community team attending LAN events, Bricey has a grass roots knowledge of what goes through players’ minds during matches.

Bricey is a recognised face in the gaming community hosting and commentating a wide range of events and tournaments, ranging from the Call of Duty World Championship finals to the Civilisation VI live launch. He has worked with some of the largest names in the industry, like Activision and Microsoft, to deliver launches of their most prestigious titles, such as Call of Duty and HALO, more than this Bricey has a passion to see the industry continue to grow.

Mike Sepso

Mike Sepso is Senior Vice President of Major League Gaming, with a focus on global strategy and brand partnerships across the Activision Blizzard esports portfolio. As part of the Activision Blizzard executive team, Mike continues to build on his experience as a pioneer in the development of esports leagues and properties worldwide.

Prior to joining Activision Blizzard, Mike was the co-founder and president of Major League Gaming (MLG), a global leader in esports. Mike launched MLG with co-founder Sundance DiGiovanni in 2002 and over the past 14 years has been a leading force in the development of the global esports industry.

In addition to signing the first major non-endemic sponsors; including Dr. Pepper, Old Spice, and Boost Mobile, Mike launched the first professional gaming circuit in North America and co-created and executive produced the first esports television series on USA Networks in 2006.

Prior to founding MLG, Mike was co-founder and co-CEO of Gotham Broadband, an early innovator in the broadband content and video streaming industry. He also launched a digital startup incubator and has been a proponent of the tech startup community in New York City for 20 years as an entrepreneur, investor, advisor and mentor.

Mike is a graduate of Babson College with a bachelor of science in management and has been a resident of New York City for 23 years.

Christoper 'Montecristo' Mykles

MonteCristo started in esports as a volunteer writer for WCReplays, a Warcraft 3 replays site. He began shoutcasting for WCReplays with Phreak. During his involvement with the Warcraft 3 scene, Mykles managed a professional Warcraft 3 team with Verge Gaming and joined the Team Sportscast Network, a now defunct esports shoutcasting organization. Mykles became “obsessed” with League of Legends in its beta phase and subsequently founded ggChronicle to provide a journalism outlet devoted to professionalism for the LoL esports scene.MonteCristo then took a full-time, contract casting position at OnGameNet, where he still casts presently. In 2013, he then joined CLG as a coach and coached the team until the end of 2014, moving on to become a co-owner of Renegades on June 19th, 2015.

Duncan 'Thorin' Shields

Known as “The Esports Historian”, Thorin has been a custodian of the history of competitive computer games since 2001. Also known for his work on analysis desks at CS:GO events, he is considered one of the world’s foremost experts in the subject of esports.

Michael O'Dell

General Manager of one of the world’s largest competitive gaming organizations, ODEE’s esports career began in 1999 as a Quake 3 pro player. Four years later, his Battlefield 1942 team merged with another, giving birth to Team Dignitas. With the experience and ideals he earned as a player, ODEE built Team Dignitas from the ground up, coaching and managing players across a multitude of games like CS:GO, League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm. Over his 19 years of experience, ODEE’s philosophy has always been to put his players and staff first in his efforts to further esports.

Eefje 'Sjokz' Depoortere

Eefje ‘sjokz’ Depoortere has been a part of Riot’s League of Legends
esports on-air team for almost six years, most notably as host of the European LCS
and interviewer at international events throughout the years.

Sjokz first esports experience was as part of the competitive
Unreal Tournament 1999 scene, competing at online tournaments and LANs as part
of several iCTF squads as well as the Belgian national team.

Fresh out of university, she started her career in 2012 as editor and eventually editor in chief
for SK Gaming, and from there grew into a globally known on-air personality for League of Legends.

Britanni Johnson

Britanni Johnson is the Head of Creators for G2 Esports and responsible for building a roster of top content creators for the esports organization and supporting the team’s expansion to the US. After spending nearly a decade in the gaming and esports industry, Britanni has become an expert in influencer marketing, casting, and strategy consulting.

She has also worked on the talent side as an on-camera, voice-over actress and host working with notable brands such as Twitch, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Disney. She is best known for her role in the Borderlands series.

BIL ‘JUMP’ CARTER

Bil “Jump” Carter is a Los Angeles based esports host and commentator within the gaming space. Known for his energetic personality and witty wordplay, Jump has been featured on a variety of esports projects such as host of ESPN’s EXP Invitational at the X-Games, Rainbow 6: Siege US Nationals and Game Over with Bud Light, as well as the 2019 Esports Awards. From hosting his first event in 2017, to working 70+ events around the globe in 2019, Jump enjoys doing what he has done from the very beginning – helping tell the stories that deserve to be told. Whether it be casting a clutch fight at the end of a battle royale, or introducing the teams on Championship Sunday, Jump enjoys bringing his signature energy to every event.

Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf

Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf is a professional Fortnite player and streamer for the Sentinels esports organization. He earned overnight fame and success after winning the inaugural Fortnite World Championship held in July 2019. Kyle first beat out over 40 million worldwide contestants to make it to Queens, New York for the Finals, where he bested 100 competitors to win a record $3 million purse. In what was a banner year, Kyle was named 2019 Gamer of the Year, 2019 PC Player of the Year, and 2019 PC Rookie of the Year while also being named to Forbes 30 under 30 at the age of 16.

Jess Brohard

Jess Brohard is an event host and content creator with over 10 years of experience working in esports. Represented by Character Select Agency since 2013, she has provided hosting and interviewing for a variety of games and events, including: the Call of Duty World League, the National PUBG League, the Pokemon World Championships, and many more.

When she’s not hosting at events, Jess also loves engaging with her own community via her daily Twitch streams.

Nyvi Estephan

Nyvi Estephan (São Paulo, August 3, 1991) is the leading host of electronic sports and games in Brazil. Since 2014, she has presented some of the most important championships in the world.

Presenter at Globo TV, e-SporTV, Ubisoft, Hyperx Drive, streamer at Facebook Gaming, ambassador of Hyperx and Acer in Brazil, ambassador of the eSports Brazil award at Sportv and presenter of the Start TV show at Rede Globo TV, Nyvi Estephan is one of the most active names in the electronic sports market in the world.

Craig ‘Mini ladd’ Thompson

Craig “Mini Ladd” Thompson is a major online personality with over 10 million followers across all social platforms and over 1.5 billion views. A native of Northern Ireland who now resides in the US, Craig began his online career in 2011 posting gaming-related content and has evolved into a comedic presence, with two YouTube channels averaging over 40 million views per month, and content that is witty, relatable and on-trend with the always-evolving online culture. Craig is also one of the largest live-streamers online, averaging roughly 48,000 concurrent viewers. Most recently, he was named Content Creator of the Year at the 2019 Esports Awards, and in 2019, Craig went on a 27-city North America tour to overwhelming support, selling out many dates in massive venues. Craig also uses his reach for good as an official Board Member for Thirst Project, having raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the charity.

From the start of an order to finish we take pride in having highly trained professionals monitor all work and orders right here in Las Vegas, USA at our in-house printing facility.

Established in January 2018, EsportsGear was created with the intent of taking the stress out of your custom printing experience.

Each purchase, from design inception till your product goes out for shipping, is easy to follow and fluid to provide one of the fastest order to shipping processes in the market.

All orders come with a 1-3 week or sooner processing. Period guarantee, making us one of the fastest shipping businesses available today!

EBeatz is a music licensing platform. Our Premium Subscription enables you to use our music catalog in your content that you produce, and monetize that content. We produce or purchase the rights to the music in our catalog, giving you peace of mind when you use it. Our platform communicates with Twitch and YouTube’s ContentID systems to verify and protect our users and the integrity of their subscriptions. With eBeatz Premium you can stream the music on eBeatz or download it to be used in your video content. Any questions? Check out our Help Page.

Why us?
Our main focus is our creators, whether you’re an artist making music for us or a content creator who uses that music, our transparency and infrastructure was built around the needs of you. We are actively improving our methods and products to maximize your satisfaction, hopefully you’ll notice that right away. We’re the company you want to be associated with you and your brand because we share the same DNA.

Go checkout the site, ask some questions, and make some amazing content that the world is dying to see.

State Farm

ReKTGlobal, Inc. is a marketing services and brand consulting company for the esports industry founded in 2016. Under their competitive games division, they own the pro team Rogue which includes a League of Legends European Championship franchise and the London Call of Duty franchise. With their recent acquisition of Greenlit Content, ReKT has produced content for or represented dozens of clients in the gaming industry, including State Farm, HyperX, NBC Sports, and more.

State Farm, a top marketer in North America, has long been a significant sponsor of traditional sports leagues and their teams. With esports, ReKTGlobal helped to craft an activation strategy that helped to mirror the most successful aspects of their partnerships in traditional sports and also create campaigns that engage and educate fans, not just sell products. State Farm embarked on this journey after reading a Nielsen report that stated that “Insurance Services” and “Financial Services” were the two industries that fans wanted the least in esports. With that in mind, ReKTGlobal worked with State Farm to develop an approach that, at first, ran no traditional media spots and instead developed educational and entertaining programs to engage core audiences.

The strategy and campaign started with a marquee position in the League of Legends North American League Championship Series (NA LCS) including a position on the State Farm Analyst Desk; three different in-broadcast segments including use of their popular Assist of the Week spot from traditional sports, in-broadcast signage, and several live event activations during the LCS split finals. Along with the NA LCS, State Farm is a sponsor of the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS) and the NBA2k League. The focus of the approach in all of these leagues was to reject traditional ad roll, in favor of short form in-broadcast programs that resulted in positive or neutral brand sentiment given how sensitive fans are to new brands entering the space.

The target audience for State Farm’s esports initiatives were younger fans who were core esports viewers. The strategy was created to gain real credibility from fans and show the core audience that State Farm was not here to just run a few ads, but actually create programs that resonated with the audience from the get-go and allowed State Farm to more aggressively market to this demographic in the future. Once credibility is gained from core fans, they evangelize the brand and segments to casual fans.

In 2018, insurance and financial services were the least wanted by esports fans, but by the end of the year we, through direct survey and Nielsen measurement, had as high as 90% explicitly positive approval ratings for our league sponsorship activations. In addition, State Farm was selected as Brand of the Year at the Tempest Esports Awards for their efforts in the industry.

At 100,000 sq ft., Esports Stadium Arlington is the largest dedicated esports facility in North America. The facility serves as a turnkey solution for esports events and productions, built to serve the unique needs and demands of the esports community.

Men are facing a health crisis that isn’t being talked about. They are dying too young, before their time. The Movember Foundation is taking action and we need your help.

We are the official destination marketing organisation for the city of Arlington, Texas.

Our mission statement is:

THE ARLINGTON CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU MARKETS AND DEVELOPS THE CITY AS A PREMIER SPORTS, BUSINESS AND LEISURE ENTERTAINMENT DESTINATION TO ACHIEVE NEW TOURISM SPENDING BENEFITS FOR THE VISITOR INDUSTRY, COMMUNITY AND ITS RESIDENTS.

This simply defines our goals and ambitions as we strive to make Arlington, Texas, a top destination for meetings, conventions, groups and leisure travellers.

Arlington CVB was founded in June of 1972 with its first board of directors. Originally a division of the City of Arlington, the Arlington CVB became its own independent bureau 20 years later in 1992.

The Koyo Store is an entertainment and games merchandising specialist creating bespoke merchandise in the form of pin badges and achievement coins.

Secretlab was established in 2014 with the mission of providing every computer user with a quality yet affordable chair. The solution is simple: Selling top-quality chairs direct—so customers don’t pay for retailers or distributors’ mark-ups, while maintaining the best customer and aftercare services. Today, users have upgraded their seating experiences in over 40 countries worldwide—such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and across Europe and South-east Asia.

In our world, there’s no room for the average or the mundane. We help businesses connect with their clients by creating products that are innovative, relevant and compelling. And because we have worked with some of the world’s most demanding businesses you can be sure the integrity of your brand is safe with us.

The narrative of the story behind our designs is all important; this requires a deep understanding of your brand values and the message you wish to project. Only when we understand your target audience and the context of the gift can we truly begin the creative process.

We start with the premise that what you are looking for is unique and probably doesn’t exist; if it did you will have found it already. Working with you to define the brief, our highly creative design team will develop merchandise that will stand out from the crowd and give your brand real cutting edge. Award winning solutions with integrity.

Since 2005, Sizzle Creative has been working with an eclectic mix of B2B & B2C clients to maximise the effectiveness of their online & offline marketing activity.

As a full-service creative agency, we deliver innovative, holistic strategies to target customers throughout the life-cycle and maximise the impact of any available touch points.
This methodology has seen us develop a market-leading voting platform for the ‘Esports Awards’ and delivered an exponential growth in voting numbers and brand engagement.
Sizzle Creative is listed and Recommended by ‘RAR’ (the Recommended Agency Register), is a certified Google Partner Agency and an Accredited Bing Ads Professional.
We have a passion for esports and are actively looking to support emerging and established esports talent.

Maika’i Copenhagen Is a Danish based production and design company, with speciality in high-end merchandise and esports gear.

GT Omega Racing

GT Omega Racing is a UK company established in 2009. We are one of the leading brands , specialising in products for Simulation Racing, Gaming Chairs and Accessories for use in eSports and gaming.

Movember

From humble beginnings back in 2003 the Movember movement has grown from friends in a bar growing moustaches for fun, into a community of millions of passionate supporters and the world’s largest funder of men’s health programs globally. Movember is driven by a community of like-minded people crazy enough to believe that by all pulling together, we have the power to change a crisis that exists in men’s health, one that isn’t being talked about, for the better.

In 2017, we will be awarding the ‘2017 Movember Esports Award’, a celebration of those within Esports that have gone above and beyond to fly the flag for men’s health during Movember. The award will be judged on the same values that the original Movember founders employed at the start of the Movement back in Australia – with fun being at the heart of it all.

Raven

Raven is the premium brand for esports apparel design and production – creating bespoke apparel solutions for individuals, teams, event organisers and corporations globally since 2013.

Raven products are meticulously designed to individual specifications and have been crafted for the perfect fit, quality and durability. With esports growing at a rapid rate, custom esports jerseys and apparel are becoming a necessity for both amateur and professional teams alike.

We strive to provide a customer experience like no other when it comes to developing a range of custom esports apparel. The attention to detail and exceptional service is what differentiates us from others.

The team behind Raven shares a common passion for esports, working tirelessly to develop the brand and constantly innovate the apparel market in order to help the growth of the esports industry.

Visit www.Raven.GG for all of your esports apparel needs.

Thomas Lyte

Thomas Lyte is a modern luxury English brand, specialising in bespoke gold and silverware, elite sporting trophies and exquisite leather accessories. With the finest designers and makers, we are proud Royal Warrant Holders as Goldsmiths and Silversmiths to Her Majesty the Queen.

Founded in 2007, the brand seeks to emulate the English spirit, embracing a modern aesthetic in an effortlessly understated way, ensuring the highest quality and skill are embedded in every item. Our designers and master craftsmen ensure traditional techniques not only survive, but are reworked, creating exciting, elegant and inspiring products.

Renowned as one of the world’s best trophy makers, we are responsible for some of the world’s greatest silver and gold trophies, famous sports trophies and celebrated awards; including The Emirates FA Cup, The RBS 6 Nations Trophy and The Webb Ellis Rugby World Cup. We also have an internal team of specialist trophy and silverware designers who can create a range of custom designs and artworks to any brief.
Thomas Lyte also offer an unmatched luxury corporate gifting service, whereby you can design and tailor the perfect gift in your corporate livery.

To find out more please visit www.thomaslyte.com or contact enquiries@thomaslyte.com

Deloitte

Deloitte is the leading specialist strategic and financial adviser to the sports business . We advise leagues, teams, governing bodies, rights owners, investors and commercial partners on their most important issues including strategy, governance and regulations, revenue generation and distribution, calendar and scheduling, cost control, M&A , performance analytics, event bidding and hosting and business planning and development.

Today we use our expertise in sport combined with the power of technology to help deliver innovative solutions in the digital era. The Esports Industry Awards presents a new opportunity for Deloitte to recognise excellence in esports, championing sport, technology and innovation.

Contact us on email / Visit our website

loreal

L’Oreal Men Expert are the fastest growing male grooming masterbrand in the UK. Currently the No.1 brand in the UK for skin care, Men Expert are also the fastest growing male deodorant brand in the UK. On top of this, Men Expert last year launched into the shower gel market, which was the most successful shower launch in male grooming history. In all of Men Expert’s products, the brand prides themselves on bringing the best formulations and grooming solutions to the male consumer. And hot off the press, Men Expert have now launched their first ever beard care range – the Barberclub. Inspired by barber know-how for the expert care of your beard, each product is powered by cedarwood essential oil. The new 3 step beard routine is made effortless by the multiuse products. The range consists of a shampoo, oil, moisturiser and styling pomade for any shaped or sized beard. Got a Beard? Welcome to the Club.

Follow us @lorealmenexpert @lorealmen

GFINITY

Formed and managed by gamers and with the backing of engaged financial investors, Gfinity Plc was created to propel eSports in the UK and internationally to a professional level, raise awareness of gaming as a competitive spectator sport, and to provide a venue for gamers to showcase their talent.

As one of the world’s leading providers of eSports content, Gfinity hosts thousands of competitions every month through its online tournament platform (www.gfinityesports.com/) which brings together the gaming elite and casual enthusiasts. With multiple leagues across the best gaming titles, gamers can compete for prestige and prizes or play for pride and boost their skills playing with gamers of a similar standard.

In addition to providing full turnkey solution for any brand wanting to create their own eSports tournaments, Gfinity launched its proprietary tournament in 2017, comprising of three stages: Challenger Series, Elite Draft, and The Elite Series.

Gfinity Challenger Series is an online based competition that is open to all gamers, regardless of location or skill level. Gamers can play for fun or rank themselves against other gamers to start their progression towards a career in eSports. As players compete and win, they collect more G-points and rise up the leader boards, which creates an opportunity for Elite Series pro-teams to identify upcoming gaming talent in the Elite Draft.

Gfinity Elite Draft happens prior to each Elite Series season, where the top ranked competitors from the Challenger Series will qualify for the Draft. At the Draft, each of the eight professional franchise teams will have the opportunity to draft two of the best players, in each of the three games, to join their team in the Elite Series.

The Gfinity Elite Series will see the eight Pro-teams compete weekly over a nine-week season to become Elite Series Champions. The competition will take place, live, every weekend at the Gfinity Arena in London. Gfinity is committed to producing a wide range of world class content which will allow the Elite Series, the teams, and the players competing, to stand out from the crowd. All live action will be captured in HD and produced to international broadcast standards in our state of the art eSports production studio, at the Gfinity Arena.

The Gfinity Esports Arena in Fulham, London is the home of UK eSports showcasing regular tournaments across the full range of competitive games including the Gfinity Elite Series. Beyond The Elite Series, Gfinity has provided premium eSports events at The Arena for leading publishers and brands including Microsoft, Activision, EA, Xbox, Gillette and HP.

Twitch is the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers and creators. Each day, millions of community members gather to watch, talk, and chat about shared interests. Twitch’s live and video on demand platform caters to the entire video game industry from esports and causal gaming, to developers, publishers, media outlets, and conventions. Twitch also features emerging content including the Twitch Creative category, which focuses on the creative process, Social Eating, vlogging (IRL), Communities, programmatic TV marathons, and more.

NOWTV

NOW TV, an award winning streaming service, gives access via contract-free passes to some of the latest and greatest TV, movies and sports on over 60 devices, including PS4 and Xbox One.

The newly named ‘NOW TV Esports Industry Awards’ sees NowTV as the exclusive naming partner for the annual Esports Industry Awards. The partnership will see both brands come together to deliver a best-in-class Esports ceremony to recognise excellence and achievements across a range of disciplines.

NOW TV lets you watch the latest movies, TV shows, live sports and kids entertainment online. There’s no contract, so you can dip in and out whenever you like. You can watch anytime, anywhere, on the web or on over 60 devices with the app. Or convert your TV into a Smart TV with a NOW TV Smart Box and enjoy over 60 Freeview channels plus 12 in HD. That’s the very best of Freeview and pay TV, all in one place.

Voted T3 Magazine’s ‘Streaming Service of the Year 2016’, NOW TV is simple to setup – just create an account and start watching instantly – super simple to use. Pick and choose from various NOW TV Passes (Sky Cinema, Entertainment, Sky Sports, and Kids) to create a combination that suits you.

Binge on over 250 Box Sets on Demand, including addictive new shows and award winning dramas with 11 of the best pay TV channels including Sky Atlantic, Discovery, MTV and FOX through the NOW TV Entertainment Month Pass. Or catch the biggest blockbusters you missed at the movies with a premiere a day on the NOW TV Sky Cinema Month Pass. Catch the biggest matches and live events on 7 Sky Sports channels for a day, week or month with a NOW TV Sports Pass. And why not keep the kids happy too, with all of their favourite shows on six live dedicated channels including Nickelodeon, NickToons and Cartoon Network with a NOW TV Kids Month Pass.

Want broadband and calls with no ties? The NOW TV Combo is the UK’s first ever contract-free triple play bundle, offering the latest and best TV, unlimited broadband as well as a range of call packages, all on your terms.

For more information visit nowtv.com

SIMBA

SIMBA Sleep is a 100% British household brand committed to the science, discovery and evolution of the perfect night’s sleep.

SIMBA Sleep has developed a premium one-type-fits-all mattress – the Simba Hybrid – to ensure everyone gets their best night’s sleep and is at their optimum performance level every day. The brand’s cutting-edge innovative technology offers the comfort of five layers of memory foam with the support of 2,500 patented conical pocket springs. Research shows that Simba mattress sleepers get an extra 21 minutes of sleep a night. That’s 16 extra days full night’s sleep a year, or almost 23 weeks of nights sleep in a mattress’ 10 year lifespan.

It’s commonly known that sleep has a direct effect on performance. A good night’s sleep helps improve problem solving, focus and attention and memory. Athletes like Gareth Bale, Roger Federer and LeBron James have all become advocates for sleeping 10 hours per night, as it leads to nearly a 10% increase in shot accuracy and reaction times; mental skills that need to be sharp in order to compete alongside the best gamers in the business.

Visit SimbaSleep.com to discover more about SIMBA Sleep’s mission to create the perfect night’s sleep.

SIZZLE

Sizzle Creative is a full service creative agency that offers graphic design, branding, advertising and a full suite of digital creative services. This enables us to manage all aspects of a client’s brand, ensuring a consistent, cohesive and – most important of all – highly effective end result.

Founded back in 2005, we’ve had the pleasure of working with clients of all shapes and sizes – from a broad range of market sectors, including household names like British Gas, Tesco, The Co-operative and The Peel Group

We love to engage with our clients – and are thrilled that so many of them consider us to be part of their team, rather than simply an external agency. Why is this so important? Because it’s only by truly understanding a client and their product or service that we can market it to maximum advantage. We’re always eager to listen, to share ideas and go on to produce innovative, engaging solutions that meet clients’ briefs and drive their business forward.

Sizzle Creative is listed and Recommended by ‘RAR’ (the Recommended Agency Register), is a certified Google Partner Agency and an Accredited Bing Ads Professional.

Our services include:

Design
Digital
Advertising
Brand Development/Management
Strategy
Packaging
Experiential

If you have an upcoming project that you would like to discuss, please give us a call on 01204 370 742, or fill out a secure contact form – located here.

Snugg is dedicated to developing intelligently designed accessories for the worlds leading tech. Our aim is to protect your favourite devices from life’s everyday risks, simplifying your digital life, meaning you’re free to make the most out of your day.

Our products are designed in London, and sold online across the globe to those who share the common belief that each day should be an adventure.

Our customers are technology natives therefore we sell online to ensure we can meet the demands of their fast paced lives by bringing accessories to market as quickly as the technology develops.

Whether you’re heading to the office or enjoying a day at the beach we believe you shouldn’t have to worry about the protection of your tech, that’s why we offer a lifetime guarantee on all our products to make sure you’re always covered.

GamesIndustry.biz is the world’s leading business website for the games industry. Launched in 2002 and headquartered in the UK, the editorial team features the biggest names in B2B journalism – including staff based in the UK, Germany,

Japan, Canada and the US. It covers every corner of the games business, from design, development, publishing and retail, to media, students, recruitment and distribution.

The website boasts a registered, authenticated audience of over 100,000 professional readers based across the globe, and features breaking news, interviews with the biggest names in the business, plus exclusive data, charts, a detailed jobs board and daily and weekly newsletters covering every corner of the games world.

Alongside the market-leading website, GamesIndustry.biz has an active and growing role to play at the heart of the global games community. It operates regular industry parties, dinners and quizzes, plus events such as Careers Fair, Investment Summit and various conferences and awards.

esports

Now TV

NOW TV, an award winning streaming service, gives access via contract-free passes to some of the latest and greatest TV, movies and sports on over 60 devices, including PS4 and Xbox One.

The newly named ‘NOW TV Esports Industry Awards’ sees NowTV as the exclusive naming partner for the annual Esports Industry Awards. The partnership will see both brands come together to deliver a best-in-class Esports ceremony to recognise excellence and achievements across a range of disciplines.

NOW TV lets you watch the latest movies, TV shows, live sports and kids entertainment online. There’s no contract, so you can dip in and out whenever you like. You can watch anytime, anywhere, on the web or on over 60 devices with the app. Or convert your TV into a Smart TV with a NOW TV Smart Box and enjoy over 60 Freeview channels plus 12 in HD. That’s the very best of Freeview and pay TV, all in one place.

Voted T3 Magazine’s ‘Streaming Service of the Year 2016’, NOW TV is simple to setup – just create an account and start watching instantly – super simple to use. Pick and choose from various NOW TV Passes (Sky Cinema, Entertainment, Sky Sports, and Kids) to create a combination that suits you.

Binge on over 250 Box Sets on Demand, including addictive new shows and award winning dramas with 11 of the best pay TV channels including Sky Atlantic, Discovery, MTV and FOX through the NOW TV Entertainment Month Pass. Or catch the biggest blockbusters you missed at the movies with a premiere a day on the NOW TV Sky Cinema Month Pass. Catch the biggest matches and live events on 7 Sky Sports channels for a day, week or month with a NOW TV Sports Pass. And why not keep the kids happy too, with all of their favourite shows on six live dedicated channels including Nickelodeon, NickToons and Cartoon Network with a NOW TV Kids Month Pass.

Want broadband and calls with no ties? The NOW TV Combo is the UK’s first ever contract-free triple play bundle, offering the latest and best TV, unlimited broadband as well as a range of call packages, all on your terms. For more information visit nowtv.com.

Partners

Title Partner

NOW TV

Event Partners

Twitch

Gfinity

Simba

Watch This Space

Award Partners

NOW TV

Simba

Twitch

Loreal

Scuf Gaming

Sizzle

Thomas Lyte

Snugg

Gamesindustry.biz

Official Suppliers

Loreal

GT Omega Racing

Thomas Lyte

Raven

Media Partner

Gamesindustry.biz

Event Officiator

Deloitte

Charity Partner

Movember

Thom “F.” Badinger

Ross Thompson
‘ TommyT999’

Britanni Johnson

BIL ‘JUMP’ CARTER

Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf

Jess Brohard

Nyvi Estephan

Craig ‘Mini ladd’ Thompson