eSports
Launch of Guild College – New venture with SCL Education to offer BTEC qualification in esports
Guild Esports (LSE: GILD), a global team organisation and lifestyle brand, is pleased to announce the launch of Guild College to provide a new career pathway for young people into apprenticeships, professional roles and higher education related to the esports industry.
As part of this new venture, Guild has entered a four–year partnership with SCL Education, a leading UK–based provider of post–16 further education specialising in sports, which will provide a one–year BTEC Level 2 Diploma in Esports and a further two–year BTEC Esports Level 3 Extended Diploma as a progression route.
Guild Esports will receive a four–figure sum from SCL Education for every student enrolled into the course. SCL Education projections for total student intake for the course in the first year of the programme, based on their existing comparable courses, is 125 individual learners. This funding will stem in part from a subcontracting agreement with SCL Education, which holds a direct contract with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), an executive agency of the UK Government sponsored by the Department for Education.
SCL Education, as experienced providers of BTEC qualifications for clubs like Leeds United College and the West Ham Foundation, will manage the programme on behalf of Guild resulting in minimal additional spend or increased headcount at the Company.
The course will be delivered through 600 guided learning hours per student over the course of the academic year, in line with UK official further education study programme requirements. The Company’s facilities will support the delivery of the esports BTEC qualification including student access to Guild’s HQ facility in Shoreditch for technical and practical workshops.
Enrolment for the course will commence immediately, with the programme welcoming its first cohort(s) of students in September 2023.
The new BTEC qualification is skills–focused and will support the creation of long–term careers in the growing esports industry both in the UK and internationally. The esports industry is projected to generate revenues of approximately $1.38 billion globally by the end of 2022, with the total esports audience set to rise 8.7% year on year to reach 532 million individuals at year end (source: Newzoo, 2022).
SCL Education will also support Guild Academy growth through the delivery of elite programmes focused on pro–player development, and community outreach programmes with the goal of positively impacting 1,000 children through esports in 2023.
Kal Hourd, Chief Executive at Guild Esports, said: “Our pioneering course leverages Guild’s position as one of Europe’s leading team organisations and will furnish learners with the opportunity to obtain a Level Two Diploma to support their career ambitions in a fast–growing industry worth more than £1 billion. By getting involved in grassroots esports development in the UK, Guild will also support a pipeline of talent both in terms of the star players of tomorrow and future esports business leaders.
“While the esports further education sector in the UK is fast growing, regular access to the state–of–the–art facilities of a fully–fledged global esports organisation is a first for a post–16 esports course and something no other learners in the country currently have available to them. Guild College is proud to offer this experience to students.”
Stuart Allen, Group Director of Operations and Principal of Education, SCL Education, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with industry leaders, Guild Esports, to deliver our BTEC Level 2 Diploma in Esports. An organisation made up of passionate people with the shared mission of delivering a unique learning experience, our learners have a bright future ahead of them in an industry full of great career opportunities.”
Asia
eStar Gaming Announces its Intention to Collaborate with Dalian Young Boy Football Club
China’s leading esports brand, eStar Gaming, a subsidiary of NIP Group announced its intention to collaborate with Dalian Young Boy Football Club. This partnership aims to explore innovative business models that blend digital and traditional sports realms, enhancing urban culture, tourism and the consumer economy through the power of sports.
Kui Wang, Investor and Chairman of Dalian Young Boy Football Club, said: “We are delighted to partner with eStar Gaming, a pioneer in the esports industry. Esports resonates with the youth, offering a dynamic platform for engagement. Our ‘esports+ football’ collaboration is set to spark excitement and innovation, enriching the traditional sport of football with new dimensions. We are confident that this alliance with NIP Group, the first listed Chinese esports company on Nasdaq, will propel Dalian Young Boy and Dalian football into uncharted territories, while our exploration in the integration between esports and traditional sports will pave the way for sustainable growth in both industries.”
Hang “Allen” Sui, Chief Operating Officer of NIP Group, said: “This cross-industry partnership is a groundbreaking step towards integrating esports and football. The synergy between our organizations will deliver unparalleled fan experiences. We anticipate expanding our collaboration with Dalian Young Boy to include cultural exchanges, tourism promotion, and esports festivals, exploring the full potential of digital-inclusion.”
Esports has become an exceptional medium for the younger generation to engage with traditional sports culture and socialize. In late August, Nuoyan and Orange, eStar Gaming’s representative players, engaged in an inaugural exchange with Dalian Young Boy Football Club, experiencing a day in the life of a football player. The event saw a jersey exchange between Dong Chen, General Manager of Dalian Young Boy Football Club, and the eStar Gaming players, with active participation from athletes Weijie Mao, Pengyu Zhu, Shan Huang and Ge Qu.
The integration of esports and traditional sports has emerged as a focal point for both sectors. According to the Esports Working Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association, the domestic esports industry reached approximately 490 million users in 2023, with over 300 million being young users. This integration is poised to align with the entertainment preferences of the youth, revitalizing sports culture in a manner that reflects the new era and fostering “out-of-the-box” growth for traditional sports and local cultural tourism.
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eSports
BETER and BVGroup extend partnership on global Esports coverage
BETER, the leading provider of next-gen betting content and data covering sports and Esports, has extended its partnership with BVGroup, the top-flight online betting operator and B2B technology solutions provider.
According to the deal, BVGroup’s brands, including BetVictor, Betano UK and others, will be provided with BETER’s Esports Odds Feed, an end-to-end trading solution which covers 450+ esports tournaments worldwide with the highest odds uptime in the industry of 90%+.
This means that their players will get access to odds for more than 40,000+ live and pre-match events per year, further enriching and improving their Esports wagering experience with the brand.
Odds are calculated using official data and compiled by BETER’s in-house team of expert Esports traders for in-demand disciplines such as CS2, Dota 2, League of Legends, Valorant and many more.
The extended partnership further establishes BETER as the go-to provider of Esports content and data for the biggest operators in the business. Indeed, the provider’s fast-betting experiences have proved to be a big hit with significant player groups such as Millennials and Gen Z.
BETER and BVGroup have a longstanding partnership in place with the operator offering the provider’s proprietary ESportsBattle tournaments, which cover eFootball, eBasketball, eHockey and CS2, as well as Setka Cup table tennis tournaments to its players. Combined, this gives players access to more than 45,000 monthly events.
Gal Ehrlich, CEO of BETER, said: “We are thrilled to have strengthened our partnership with our good friends at BVGroup and for its brands to provide players with an enhanced Esports betting experience.
“Esports betting is a significant vertical in its own right with players demanding a great selection of markets and the best-priced odds. By combining official data with expert traders, we can provide our partners with highly accurate odds for Esports tournaments worldwide.
“We have already enjoyed a hugely successful partnership with BVGroup, but this enhanced agreement will really take it to the next level.”
Eoin Ryan, Director of Sportsbook at BVGroup, added: “BETER has proved to be one of our most important partners, allowing us to deliver fast betting content to players at our sportsbooks.
“The success of this made us want to deepen our collaboration by taking the provider’s global Esports data and odds, allowing us to offer bets on more than 40,000 events across major disciplines such as CS2, League of Legends, Valorant and others.
“It’s partnerships like this that ensure our sportsbooks remain the go-to sports and Esports betting brands of choice for players in core markets across the world.”
The post BETER and BVGroup extend partnership on global Esports coverage appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
eSports
PandaScore boosts Amelco’s esports offering with sportsbook integration
PandaScore, the award-winning provider of esports odds, stats and betting products, has signed a major deal with leading sportsbook and platform provider Amelco, as the supplier looks to enhance its esports betting offering.
Established as one of the world’s leading sportsbook and platform providers, Amelco is the partner of choice for the likes of Fanatics, Hard Rock Bet, Entain, BET99, and Flutter Entertainment.
Under the deal, Amelco will integrate PandaScore’s full suite of esports solutions into its offering. This will include its odds and stats, as well as its esports betting products such as its Bet Builder, Player Props and Micro Markets.
PandaScore’s odds feed is powered by a sophisticated model that leverages AI and is backed by a team of experienced traders, with specialist traders for certain disciplines. This covers the likes of CS2, Dota 2, LoL and Call of Duty.
Amelco will also benefit from PandaScore’s stats offering which provides real-time statistics for LoL, CS2, Dota 2 and all major esports titles. This includes extensive in-depth data points coverage, delivered in real-time with just 300ms latency from the original stream.
When combined with PandaScore’s innovative Player Props, Bet Builder and Micro Markets, it makes for the complete esports offering, allowing Amelco’s operator partners to offer an even wider selection of Esports than ever before.
Oliver Niner, Head of Sales at PandaScore, said: “Amelco is a top-tier technology company and platform supplier and understands the need to provide its customers with a proven esports betting solution and that’s exactly what PandaScore offers.
“The demand for esports betting is big – and only getting bigger – with more operators now wanting to make a play in the space. To do this, they need to be able to offer an authentic betting experience and Amelco can now provide this to its partners using PandaScore’s award-winning solutions.”
Brandon Walker, Head of Business Development at Amelco, added: “Esports betting is a huge business, and as one of the world’s most comprehensive sportsbook and platform providers, we want to ensure we offer our operator partners the very best.
“We’re excited to be partnering with PandaScore to boost our esports offering even further, and we see this partnership as a fantastic way to bring even more value to our offering. We look forward to many successful years of working together.”
The post PandaScore boosts Amelco’s esports offering with sportsbook integration appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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