Connect with us
Prague Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 (25-26 March)

eSports

Casa Noturna crowned the UK’s best VALORANT student team at Red Bull Campus Clutch to qualify for Brazil World Finals

Published

on

Reading Time: 3 minutes

 

Casa Noturna has been crowned the UK’s best student VALORANT team at the Red Bull Campus Clutch UK Grand Final, at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere.

The UK Champions defeated Last Dance in a tense 2:0 Grand Final, and in turn, qualified for the Red Bull Campus Clutch World Finals in Brazil this December. Casa Noturna will now battle for €20,000 in prize money as well as an exclusive VIP experience at a 2023 VALORANT Champions Tour event.

In the South Final, Last Dance took a commanding 2-0 win against Just Essentials to book their place in the Finals, with dominating victories across Haven and Bind to seal it in just two maps. The North Final between Casa Noturna and Birmingham Bulls was incredibly tense as the two evenly matched teams fought for momentum. Casa Noturna eventually booked their place in the Grand Final with a 2-1 victory, with the team pulling off a stunning comeback on the third map from 8-1 down to win 10-13.

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

The Grand Final kicked off on Ascent, where Casa Noturna won the early advantage with a 13-5 win, setting up a tense second map on Pearl. Last Dance fought back to take an early lead at 6-1 and looking to take the match all the way,  but Casa Noturna dug in with an epic comeback to win the match 13-8.

Reflecting on their road to victory, Casa Noturna’s Ben ‘Benzki’ Price said: “We had a really tough run today, Birmingham Bulls were hard opponents and Last Dance were difficult too, but we kept composed and used our experience. I think we’ve got a really good team here, all the guys played their part really well, even if they were in roles they wouldn’t normally play on. They kept their cool under pressure and I think that was the main reason we were able to win this afternoon.”

The Finals were streamed live on The Goose House, hosted by Matt ‘Twiggy’ Twigg and Vicki ‘Gottmoxi’ Johnson, and following the event, Gottmoxi said: “I think they have a really good chance of winning the whole tournament in December – they showed today that they can adapt really well on each map, they have a brilliant agent pool and they were able to pull out all the stops and turn things in their favour whenever they needed to which is a brilliant attribute to have as a team which will be incredibly valuable in the World Finals.”

Red Bull Campus Clutch kicked off this August, with National Qualifiers taking place across the globe and National Finals determining the best student team from each participating country. So far, this year’s tournament has had over 4,500 teams taking part, with 25,000 participants and over 300 national events.

Soon only 50 teams will remain, all travelling directly to Sao Paulo, Brazil for this epic in-person LAN final. In the UK, over 400 players in 81 teams had battled across regional qualifying rounds to reach the UK Final, with four qualifying winners earning a place at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London for the LAN Finals.

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

The Red Bull Campus Clutch World Final will take place between 13th-16th December 2022, with the final stages being streamed live on Red Bull Twitch. Taking place at Estádio do Pacaembu, famously used for several games of the 1950 World Cup, 50 teams will kick off the tournament, in the initial group stage matches taking place from 13th-14th. From there, the teams remaining will battle it out in an elimination format, with the Grand Final taking place on the 16th of December.

National Express is the official UK public transport partner for Red Bull Campus Clutch. As the UK’s number one coach company National Express is helping qualifying competitors travel to the UK final by offering free travel on its UK network.

Several global partners are supporting Red Bull Campus Clutch this year, helping bring the latest and greatest hardware to competitors. Intel NUC, SteelSeries and AGON by AOC all return to the tournament. As PC Partner, Intel NUC, renowned for packing high-powered gaming rigs in small form factors, will support with their top-notch Gaming PCs. SteelSeries, the worldwide leader in gaming and esports peripherals, is the official Peripheral brand of Red Bull Campus Clutch and will equip students with award-winning gaming headsets, keyboards, and mice. And the official Monitor Partner, AGON by AOC will once again provide high-performance gaming monitors for the event.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

eSports

FeedConstruct Announces New Partnership with Betinvest

Published

on

feedconstruct-announces-new-partnership-with-betinvest
Reading Time: 2 minutes

 

FeedConstruct has announced an innovative new partnership with Betinvest, integrating Betinvest’s exclusive esports and fast sports solutions to enhance FeedConstruct’s innovative Odds Aggregator Platform. Due to this partnership, bettors will now enjoy access to over 30,000 monthly events, expanding their choices with a wide range of unique sports and esports content.

Extending the Fast Sports Options

As part of this collaboration, Betinvest delivers exclusive fast sports solutions to FeedConstruct across several popular sports:

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

Table Tennis: With the TT EURO.CUP and WINCUP leagues, table tennis fans can now enjoy a constant stream of top-tier events, featuring reliable odds and real-time data.

Short Football: The thrilling Winners Goal Pro Cup offers a fast-paced football format, perfect for bettors seeking quick outcomes.

Beach Volleyball: The Winners beach volleyball series adds vibrant matches to the betting world, attracting the growing fan base of this sport.

Enhancing Esports Betting

Alongside fast sports, Betinvest will bring its extensive esports portfolio to the table. Events like CyberLive!Arena and Esport Pro Club will offer top-tier esports action, complete with rich data, reliable odds and premium live streams. With the esports sector’s growing popularity, the partnership ensures that bettors gain access to high-class tournaments and comprehensive statistics to enhance their betting experience.

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

The Value of This Partnership

Through its partnership with Betinvest, FeedConstruct’s Odds Aggregation Platform will cover a broader range of events, ensuring an engaging betting experience. In addition, FeedConstruct’s platform offers Betinvest the chance to reach a larger audience, boosting its market presence and visibility.

Odds Aggregation Platform provides extensive coverage with a wide selection of odds from leading providers. What distinguishes FeedConstruct’s platform is its simplicity and efficiency, offering a single point of access to multiple odds providers without the need for complex, individual integrations.

Dmytro Hnoievyi, CEO of Betinvest, said: “As we continue to push the boundaries of innovation at Betinvest, our partnership with FeedConstruct marks a significant milestone. By integrating our exclusive fast sports and esports solutions, we are becoming part of a groundbreaking platform that represents the future of sports betting.

FeedConstruct’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge sports data and streaming solutions aligns perfectly with our vision. Their reliable technology, vast experience, and dedication to accuracy make FeedConstruct an ideal partner for expanding our offering. We will definitely set new standards in sports and esports betting, and we are utterly confident that together we will make it happen. We are excited about the future and the value this partnership brings to the sports betting industry.”

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

Narek Harutyunyan, CEO at FeedConstruct, said: “It’s a great opportunity to enter into this partnership with Betinvest, an international sports entertainment tech provider. We are confident that this partnership will enhance the sports entertainment experience for audiences worldwide, and we look forward to a successful and dynamic collaboration.”

The post FeedConstruct Announces New Partnership with Betinvest appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Continue Reading

eSports

IESF Concludes 16th Ordinary General Meeting in Riyadh

Published

on

iesf-concludes-16th-ordinary-general-meeting-in-riyadh
Reading Time: 2 minutes

 

The International Esports Federation (IESF) held its 16th Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) on November 18, bringing together over 150 delegates from the member federations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Before the official start of the assembly, IESF welcomed representatives from the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee (SOPC) and the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF). Abdulaziz Baeshin, CEO of SOPC presented Saudi Arabia’s progress in Esports and sports development and their vision moving forward. Frank Weber, Director of Corporate Marketing at EWCF discussed the success of the EWCF and highlight upcoming plans for the future.

In his opening speech, IESF President HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud expressed gratitude for the number of delegates who attended the assembly. He reflected on the federation’s success and achievements over the past year, the key areas for improvement, and the necessity of continued close collaboration among members.

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

The first session of the assembly continued with reviewing motions submitted by the members and voting on their acceptance or rejection. The members also voted to grant Full Membership status to Canada, Germany, Latvia, and Malta.

The second session of the OGM was dedicated to electing key positions within the IESF Board and committees. The results are:

  • Board Member: Mr. Samart Benjamin Assarasakorn

  • Treasurer: Mr. Daniel Wen Jun Loy

Membership Committee Members:

  • Mr. Soufiane El Filali

  • Mr. Jaroslav Melishek

Audit, Risk, and Governance Committee:

  • Chair: Mr. Tomas Gabris

  • Members: Mr. Jacopo Ierussi and Mr. Stevan Nenad Rosic

Regulatory Committee Chair:

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)
  • Mr. Ido Orel Brosh

In his concluding statement, IESF General Secretary Boban Totovski congratulated the assembly on a productive and democratic meeting. He expressed his appreciation for the valuable insights shared by members and their dedication to the growth of the IESF.

“This year’s assembly demonstrated the strength of our community and the shared vision that drives IESF forward. I thank everyone for their contributions to a democratic and smooth process, and I look forward to welcoming more member federations to our family next year and even greater success” said Totovski.

The OGM 2024 in Riyadh was another step forward in IESF’s mission to unite the Esports world under a shared vision. With the growing number of national federations, the IESF continues to cement its role as the largest Esports family.

The post IESF Concludes 16th Ordinary General Meeting in Riyadh appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)
Continue Reading

Chad Kinlay Chief Marketing Officer TrafficGuard

Influencers, Content and eSports: Unleashing the Power of Dynamic Strategies in the eSports Ecosystem

Published

on

influencers,-content-and-esports:-unleashing-the-power-of-dynamic-strategies-in-the-esports-ecosystem

 

The sports betting industry is undergoing significant growth worldwide with restrictions loosening and new markets emerging. New opportunities create fierce competition among sportsbooks, and this has led to them devising increasingly expensive and aggressive advertising campaigns.

Public figures and influencers have become a popular go-to for sportsbooks promotions, such as Michael Jordan partnering with DraftKings or Jamie Foxx with BetMGM. Big names are costly, and sportsbooks haven’t realised the ad spend used on these campaigns is going to waste. Without the right precautions in place, up to 22% of ad spend is lost to fraud according to Juniper Research.

The big budgets behind high-profile brand campaigns need to translate into real user engagement. To achieve this, sportsbooks must ensure their digital channels are optimised to capture the surge in interest these campaigns generate. Without proper management, this potential can be lost to inefficiencies like invalid traffic, diluting the impact of their investments.

 

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

Ad Budgets Going to Waste

In today’s competitive landscape, sportsbooks need to make every click count. In 2023 alone, The American Gaming Association estimated that over $1.9 billion was spent on advertising campaigns in the US. With such a large amount of spend in play, it’s crucial that sportsbooks see as big a Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) as possible.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns are vital for sportsbook growth but can be disrupted by invalid traffic (IVT). IVT includes both malicious activity, like fraudulent bots, and unintentional actions, such as users repeatedly clicking on ads without intent to convert. These interactions inflate impressions and skew campaign performance data, leading to higher customer acquisition costs (CACs) and inefficient allocation of ad spend. Effectively managing IVT ensures that ad budgets drive genuine engagement and measurable growth.

Investing into influencers and celebrities also forces sportsbooks to bid on brand keywords to prevent their competitors stealing potential users searching for them. Up to 29% of PPC budgets are spent on this bidding according to Wordstream. As competition for brand keywords increases, PPC budgets are depleted without generating any new net revenue.

As campaigns become more expensive than ever, sportsbooks can’t afford to let profits fall to ad fraud. Instead of cutting budgets, sportsbooks should focus on analysing their campaign strategy.

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

 

Problematic Navigational Traffic

Navigational traffic is also presenting a significant challenge to sportsbooks alongside ad fraud. Navigational traffic refers to existing customers clicking on branded keywords to log into their accounts. While this seems convenient and harmless enough, this behaviour drastically inflates CACs. Like ad fraud, this can skew the effectiveness of PPC campaigns. By utilising paid search results instead of organic links to navigate to the site, costs are driven up without contributing to new user acquisition.

In addition to the challenges posed by navigational traffic and ad fraud, the competitive landscape for first-time depositors intensifies the need for strategic bidding on Google search. Brands investing heavily in influencers or sponsorships of major sporting events to generate awareness and drive potential users to search for them. However, without securing top placements in paid search results, these prospective customers may be intercepted by competitors before reaching the organic search listings. This creates a critical juncture where the effectiveness of a brand campaign hinges on converting that intent-driven traffic into first-time depositors, ensuring marketing spend achieves its goal of meaningful user acquisition.

First-time depositors are a critical metric for sportsbooks, and this issue directly impacts the cost efficiency of acquiring them. High CACs make marketing budgets less effective, reducing overall ROI.

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

 

Shoring Up Your Defences

Before launching costly ad campaigns, sportsbooks should adopt a multi-faceted approach to address ad fraud. IVT typically goes unnoticed, so to prevent this sportsbooks should monitor and analyse their campaign traffic for any suspicious activity. It is possible to identify IVT by looking out for signs such as irregular spikes in traffic from unknown locations or high pageviews. Fraudulent traffic can then by highlighted and removed.

The advancement of technology has made ad fraud more difficult to identify, and legacy fraud tools fail to detect IVT. They don’t analyse traffic at the impression level or consider the context of the business advertising. Sportsbooks can leverage ad-verification platforms to compensate for this. This allows sportsbooks to analyse and report suspicious traffic in real-time. Fraud can then be blocked before it has a chance to harm budgets.

Sportsbooks can also deploy tactics to reduce the impact of navigational traffic on CACs. Methods include encouraging existing customers to use mobile apps or direct bookmarks to log into their accounts instead of paid search campaigns. This decreases their reliance on PPC campaigns for navigation and protects budgets.

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

 

Keeping Profits in Sportsbooks’ Hands

Influencer and celebrity campaigns have proven to be a popular and useful tool in reeling new users and profits. However, if sportsbooks don’t have the essential precautions in place, they risk losing these profits to advertising fraud.

To make the most of their advertising efforts, sportsbooks need to prioritise their traffic. Implementing sophisticated tools to analyse traffic and filter out fraud will allow sportsbooks to protect their interests and focus on driving future growth. This way, they can secure their position in an increasingly competitive landscape.

 

Advertisement
European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

Written by: Chad Kinlay, Chief Marketing Officer, TrafficGuard

A driven, open-minded, creative senior marketer with a strong sense of dedication and commitment. With over 15 years of progressive international experience in marketing and communications management, Kinlay has a credible history of commercial success.

Continue Reading

Trending