Asia
MANCHESTER CITY ANNOUNCE REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP WITH 8XBET
Manchester City and 8Xbet have announced a new regional partnership that will see the brand become the Official Betting Partner of the club in Asia.
8Xbet was founded in 2018 and the international sports bookmaker aims to provide customers in the region with high quality, unique and engaging experiences. It will collaborate with Manchester City to produce a number of content pieces throughout the partnership.
As part of the new agreement, 8Xbet, which is licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commission, will also have exposure through LED in the Etihad Stadium and a regional presence in Asia across digital assets and the club’s Cityzens platform.
Tom Boyle, Vice-President, Global Partnerships Marketing and Operations, City Football Group, said: “We are delighted to welcome 8Xbet as a regional partner of Manchester City today. 8Xbet shares our commitment to entertaining and providing great experiences to customers and fans alike. The new partnership provides the club an opportunity to further increase our presence across the region and we look forward to working with 8Xbet.”
Ryan Li, Founder of 8Xbet, said: “It is a huge honour to partner with Manchester City – we are delighted to have secured our first-ever football club partnership with one of the biggest teams in the world. As Premier League Champions in four of the last five years, City have a huge following in Asia, and we are excited to work together to bring exclusive content to fans in the region.”
Asia
Ocean Sharma Becomes the First Esports Caster to Join World’s Biggest Cricketing League – IPL 2024
Ocean Sharma, a prominent caster of the country’s Esports industry, has been appointed as the national presenter for the highly anticipated season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 by Star Sports. This groundbreaking move marks a historic moment in Esports and sports broadcasting, as Ocean becomes the first Indian Esports caster to join the world’s premier franchise cricket league.
Ocean is widely recognised within India’s Esports landscape for his extensive experience and expertise as a caster and game analyst. His notable achievements include casting for official Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) tournaments and global Esports events such as the PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2021: League – East, PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2021: Grand Finals, and PUBG Mobile Pro League – South Asia Spring 2022.
For IPL 2024, Ocean will join hands with the league’s national presenters Mayanti Langer Binny, Jatin Sapru, Tanay Tiwari, Suren Sundaram and more to undertake various responsibilities as an anchor and reporter.
Ocean Sharma said: “As a passionate cricket fan, being appointed as the national presenter for IPL 2024 is truly a monumental moment for me. It presents an incredible opportunity to bridge the gap between Esports and mainstream sports in India, and I am honored to be at its forefront. With my experience, I am committed to delivering an unparalleled experience for all viewers and cannot wait to kickstart this innings of my career.”
Having enjoyed an illustrious career in Esports, this will not be Ocean’s first stint in the country’s sporting landscape as he has previously showcased his casting talent in high-profile tournaments such as Ultimate Kho Kho and Pro Kabaddi League.
“We are thrilled to see Ocean making strides in India’s sports industry after establishing himself as a notable figure in Esports. His journey is an inspiration for aspiring Esports enthusiasts, showcasing that the sector offers lucrative growth prospects in roles other than being a gamer as well. We are confident that his distinctive presenting skillset will enhance the excitement of IPL viewing for fans nationwide,” said Ketan Singhal, Ocean’s business manager and Founder of Phiesi.
Ocean’s unique content has established him as a distinguished figure in the Indian video gaming community with his Youtube channel comprising more than 858k subscribers and Instagram handle exceeding 450k followers. His inclusion in the IPL star cast is not only an individual achievement but also signifies a significant step forward in recognising the growing influence of Esports in mainstream sports.
Asia
Nagasaki IR Partner Won’t Appeal Against Rejection
Takashi Oya, the president of Kyushu Resorts, one of Nagasaki Prefecture’s partners in its plan to develop an integrated resort has disassociated himself from the possibility of an appeal against the negative decision from central government.
As reported by local industry outlet, Oya told a meeting at the general affairs committee of the Nagasaki prefectural assembly on Monday (March 12) that he would not file a request for an administrative appeal as the chances of getting a favourable response were negligible. Under Japan’s Administrative Appeal Act, the deadline for any such appeal would be March 27.
Oya said he still believed the Nagasaki IR District Development Plan deserved to be approved. He suggested the reason for the rejection could have been due to the lack of clarity in the certainty of fundraising and implementation capacity.
Nagasaki submitted its IR District Development Plan alongside Osaka in 2022, aiming to partner with Casinos Austria International Japan and to open by 2027. The expected cost for the development was to be JPY438.3bn.
Asia
MapleStory Universe Enters into a Strategic Partnership with Avalanche
MapleStory Universe, a global blockchain project of Nexon Group, has entered a strategic partnership with Avalanche, a smart contracts platform that has the fastest transaction speed among existing layer 1 blockchains.
Avalanche supports a highly scalable app-specific platform called “Subnet,” which provides a smooth gaming experience even through surges of transactions.
Through this partnership, MapleStory Universe plans to utilise Avalanche’s “Subnet” technology to expand its blockchain ecosystem and continue various activities such as technology-related collaborations to build a stable service.
“I cannot imagine a bigger opportunity in Web3 than what MapleStory Universe is doing, and we are honored to partner with MapleStory Universe to steward this IP using the power of Avalanche. We have been extremely impressed with the vision since our first conversation, and the focus on long-term sustainability could easily onboard millions of users on-chain,” Ed Chang, Head of Gaming at Ava Labs, said.
“Our partnership with Avalanche will allow us to build a stable and complete blockchain ecosystem, enabling us to securely service various dApps along with MapleStory N to amplify our competitiveness,” Angela Son, Partnership Lead at MapleStory Universe, said.
MapleStory Universe plans to release its blockchain-based PC MMOPRG “MapleStory N” in certain countries within the year, followed by many other tools and applications to come.
Additionally, MapleStory Universe and Avalanche will hold a joint panel talk at MapleStory Universe’s side event on the week of the 2024 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, on March 20th. At this event, Angela Son and Edward Chang will introduce the process of incorporating blockchain into game projects.
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