Perlmutter is set to take the reins of both business and competition facets within the league, answering directly to a freshly-minted Board of Directors. This board boasts a roster of representatives hailing from notable organisations including the NBA, Take-Two Interactive, and 2K Games.

Chief Operating Officer of 2K Games Phil Dixon said the appointment of Perlmutter was a huge victory for the fledgling competition, with his experience and contacts set to expand the league’s footprint.

“The NBA 2K League’s success is built on the engaged community of viewers, players, and teams who all share a common passion for NBA 2K,” he said.

“Andrew’s experience in leading revenue growth and his seasoned business instincts will be an exciting asset as we continue to grow and expand the league.”

This executive reshuffling surfaces shortly after the league’s preceding President, Brendan Donohue, made his exit public. However, Donohue isn’t making an immediate departure; he is slated to conclude his tenure on October 31.

Perlmutter’s will begin as CEO on October 2, aligning seamlessly with the earlier disclosure that Donohue would be facilitating a smooth transition of leadership.

Perlmutter will interface with a constellation of industry heavyweights on the Board of Directors. Among them are Adam Silver, the Commissioner of the NBA; Salvatore LaRocca, the NBA President of Global Partnerships; Strauss Zelnick, the Chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive; and Phil Dixon, the Chief Operating Officer of 2K Games.

As delineated by the League, the ambit of Perlmutter’s responsibilities encompasses global expansion initiatives, fostering partnerships, orchestrating media and content distribution, engaging the community, and spearheading grassroots development efforts.

Distinct from his predecessor Donohue, Perlmutter’s professional trajectory isn’t steeped in the sports domain. Rather, his expertise is grounded in devising business strategies and catalysing revenue growth across a spectrum of industries. His resume includes a stint as the Chief Strategy Officer at ITRenew, a firm operating in the data center and technology sector.

Furthermore, he has been at the helm as General Manager and Vice President of Operations at both Newsweek and The Daily Beast.

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The collaboration means NBA players will endorse the league through various esports-related activities, including team promotions.

Founded jointly in 2018 by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, the NBA 2K League is an esteemed professional esports competition, with 25 franchises representing the NBA 2K basketball simulation series.

NBA 2K League is no stranger to high-profile collaborations, having previously secured partnerships with industry giants like Google, AT&T, and Sony Interactive Entertainment.

The NBPA, established in 1954, serves as the union for present-day professional NBA players. With its foundational pillars being to uphold players’ rights, voice their opinions, and encourage their positive influence on sports and society globally, the association plays a crucial role.

This synergy between the NBA 2K League and the NBPA was orchestrated by THINK450, the NBPA’s commercial arm. Tasked with handling the licensing rights for the NBA’s 450 players, THINK450 is dedicated to forging innovative alliances that align the interests of players, brands, and fans alike.

Josh Goodstadt, THINK450’s Chief Commercial Officer, expressed his enthusiasm about the joint venture.

“We are thrilled to team up with the NBA 2K League to bring new opportunities for our players to engage and interact with a game that so many of them love,” he said.

“This first-of-its-kind partnership between a players’ association and an esports league reflects our players’ passion for gaming, and we are excited to bring it all to life this coming season.”

It’s worth noting that the NBA 2K League has been at the forefront of major partnerships in the basketball esports arena recently.

In June, they inked a multiyear agreement with the International Basketball Association (FIBA).

Following closely, NBA 2K’s creators declared One Up as the official on-demand esports platform for the series in another long-term contract.

So far to date, NBA 2K League has very limited betting available on it, but it would not surprise if esports betting sites launched markets on the next edition.

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LoL Worlds 2020 : 2 US Teams Left

Despite high expectations from North American sportsbooks, Team Liquid is now officially out of the competition in Worlds 2020. The Group A squad finished the group stage with a disappointing 3-3 score. After early losses to Machi Esports and Suning, Team Liquid defeated G2, only to lose again in a follow-up match. Back-to-back victories against Suning and Machi couldn’t save TL from it’s lackluster fate.

Now, North American hopes rest on the shoulders of FlyQuest and Team SoloMid. FlyQuest currently boasts an underwhelming 1-2 score, with a single victory against Unicorns of Love and two losses against Top Esports and DRX. Team SoloMid will likely join Team Liquid soon. Their record currently stands at 0-3 and sports betting fans aren’t touching them at this stage.

Asia Esports Betting

LoL Worlds 2020: China’s Suning Dominates Group A

Results are officially in and Asian sportsbooks have closed all markets. Group A matches in the League Of Legends Worlds 2020 Championship are over, and we now have final standings.

Leading the pack in Group A is China’s Suning, with a 5-2 record. They’re now hot favorites at betting sites. Not far behind is the Spanish G2 Esports team, finishing with 4-3. North America’s Team Liquid was a surprising underperformer, finishing third with a lukewarm 3-3 record. The Taiwanese Machi Esports finished dead last, with an unfortunate 1-5 performance. Suning’s victory came after a thrilling match against G2 Esports, that saw both teams go to a tiebreaker. Take a look at the latest bookmaker odds and place your bets before the next round.

Africa Esports News

Riot Games To Add North Africa Servers In Valorant

League of Legends and Valorant developer Riot Games has officially unveiled the road map for Act III of Valorant. The successful free-to-play tactical FPS will be getting a significant amount of resources, as the company has carefully laid out.

An interesting part of the road map is the inclusion of Middle Eastern and North African servers. Esports betting fans are already excited about this development. This decision will work wonders to reduce ping and minimize lag experienced by African players. It’s a welcome reprieve for the continent’s esports professionals. While not included in the Act III road map, future servers might be deployed in India as well. The company is currently testing servers in the nation. This is fantastic news for sportsbooks, as the number of markets and competitions will widen as a result.

Europe Esports News

Mixed Performance At Worlds 2020

With Worlds 2020 underway, European esports fans are keeping a close eye on their favorite teams in the competition. And while some teams have certainly met expectations, others have woefully underperformed or delivered somewhat mixed results, upsetting European sportsbooks expectations. Ahead of the curve is G2 Esports, who finished the group stage in 2nd place, after China’s Suning. The two teams had identical 4-2 records, but G2 lost the tiebreaker. Teams At Worlds 2020 betting didn’t see that coming.

Meanwhile, Group C’s Fnatic is leading its peers with a 2-1 score, with a single loss against LGD Gaming, currently ranked third. Fnatic still has to face off against the US-based Team SoliMid, Korea’s Gen G, and another go against LGD Gaming.

Finally, you have Rogue, with a 1-2 record sporting two losses (against Korea’s DAMWON Gaming, and China’s JD Gaming). Their single victory thus far was against Hong Kong’s PSG Talon. Keep an eye on top Esports betting sites for the latest odds.

South America Esports Betting

Dominican Republic’s NBA2K League Goes International

Starting with its third season, organizers of the successful Dominican NBA2K League, or LDNBA2K, have announced their intentions to go international. The league, which has already completed two full seasons, will now be known as the Latin-American NBA2K League (or LLN). The league’s third season will see teams from a variety of Latin American countries competing for prizes and glory. South American sportsbooks will be watching this unfold with interest, and betting fans will be eager to see the odds.

Teams from Panama, Chile, Puerto Rico and various other territories have already registered. It should be a very positive move for the region, often underserved by major and well-established professional esports leagues.

Oceania Esports News

What The Future Holds After The End Of OPL

After Riot Games’ surprising announcement that Oceania’s professional LoL league is shutting down, players are wondering what the future holds. While the company subtly hinted at the move by defunding the Oceanic Pro League (OPL) earlier this year, most players were still caught off-guard.

According to official statements from Riot Games, former OPL players will now be part of the North American LCS. It’s a somewhat counterintuitive move that would see Australia and New Zealand-based players compete with American teams. How this will impact Australian bookmakers remains to be seen. Nevertheless, the region will continue to host its own qualifier tournaments for the Mid-Season Invitational and Worlds championships. Former OPL players participating in North American League Of Legends Championship Series teams will no longer take up an import slot.

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By winning the 2020 season of NBA 2K League, Wizards became the first team in history to win both the Draft Lottery and the league championship in the same year, while also joining Knicks Gaming and T-Wolves Gaming as one of the only three teams to ever lift the prestigious trophy.

The grand finals, however, did not start well for Wizards District Gaming, who left a lot to be desired with a 53-65 loss in game one. Much of Warriors’ success in the opening game was due to their strong defensive effort and focus on Wizards’ star point guard John “JBM” Mascone.

Wizards managed only six points in the first quarter, which allowed Warriors to run away with a double-digit (16-6) lead and they never looked back, eventually securing a comfortable 65-53 win.

PG Charlie “CB13” Bostwick had an outstanding performance for Warriors in game one with 40 points, five assists and 17/29 from the field, whereas center Malik “Slaughter” Leisinger did his fair share of work with six points, 12 boards, three assists, three steals and two blocks. On the side of Wizards, JBM managed 28 points with Ryan “Dayfri” Conger backing him up with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

After losing game one, Wizards opted for a change in strategy and focused on shutting down CB13, which proved to be the right move. They claimed a 19-13 lead by the end of the first quarter and while Warriors reduced the gap to only one point before the half time (28-29), Wizards Gaming pulled away with 19-12 in third and 12-10 in the fourth quarter to win 60-50 and tie the series at 1-1.

JBM and Dayfri both had an outstanding performance in game two, yet it was the latter who shone the brightest with a double-double (18 points, 13 rebounds), whereas JBM came close to achieving the same feat with 25 points and seven assists.

After figuring out the best strategy to shut down Warriors, Wizards entered the next two games of the series with the same approach, and it worked. By shutting down CB13 and playing around their PG-C duo, Wizards took control of game three early on and while they slumped a bit in Q2 (14-17) and Q4 (15-19), their commanding lead from the first quarter (15-9) allowed them to cruise to a 64-59 victory.

JBM and Dayfri played a crucial role in Wizards’ win once more with 23 points, nine assists and 21 points, 11 rebounds, four assists respectively. On the other side, Warriors’ PG CB13 contributed 29 points and 10 assists, while his teammate Slaughter posted a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double.

With momentum on their side, Wizards entered game four as confident as ever and it showed. After finishing Q1 tied (12-12), Wizards slowly started to pull ahead and found themselves in a 51-45 lead by the end of the third quarter at which point the game was more or less decided.

Not only did Wizards manage to keep their advantage intact throughout the last quarter, but further extended their lead with 19-10, to seal the deal with a commanding 70-55 win, thus clinched their first NBA 2K League title in fashion.

The man of the match was no other than Wizards’ PG JBM, who saved the best for last, contributing an astounding 46 points and four assists, while also making 21/28 of his field goals attempts. Small Forward Maurice “ReeseDaGod” Delaney made sure he left a mark in his team’s impressive victory as well with 22 points while Dayfri came away with six points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, four blocks and two steals.

Dayfri ended the season as the NBA 2K 2020 MVP with 14.3 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 4.8 APG, 3.3 BPG and 65.9FG% averages, thus further solidified himself as one of the best NBA 2K players in the world. His phenomenal performances throughout the season awarded him with his fair share of US $420,000 in tournament winnings, which is just under 47% of the overall prize pool of $900,000.

This year’s NBA 2K League saw an astounding rise in popularity, with organisers reporting a 76% increase in unique viewers per stream on Twitch compared to last season. This season also wrote history by airing NBA 2K games on television for the first time on ESPN2, Sportsnet and eGG Network.

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This year’s NBA 2K League campaign was supposed to begin on Tuesday, March 24, but the launch date has been postponed such time as the outbreak is contained to a degree which would allow for safer health conditions for the players, fans and other individuals involved in the scene.

League organisers made the announcement on their Twitter page, where they explained that the 23 participating teams will play their preseason competitions remotely. A similar approach was taken recently by the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) in China, where the 2020 Spring Split was initially postponed and then relaunched with an online format.

“The health and well-being of our players, teams and fans is of paramount importance,” said NBA 2K League Managing Director Brendan Donohue.

“We will continue to evaluate the situation and do everything possible to bring the excitement of the NBA 2K League to our fans through remote preseason exhibitions and other content.

“We look towards to sharing additional information about these exhibitions and the start of the 2020 season as it becomes available.”

As COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe, many esports titles and their respective leagues have come to a standstill. Activision Blizzard recently cancelled all March and April events for the Overwatch League, while the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) abruptly called off all fixtures just hours before Friday’s games were scheduled to begin.

The long list of cancelled or otherwise affected esports events also includes: all major regions in League of Legends, which had its leagues and competitions either postponed, cancelled, moved online, or played without live audiences; CS:GO, which saw its two major competitions in ESL Pro League Season 11 and FLASHPOINT Season 1 moved to an online format; Rocket League, which cancelled the Season 9 World Championship; Apex Legends Global Series, which has postponed its inaugural Major tournament; Hearthstone, which moved to online-only format for its Masters Tour; and the Call of Duty League, which announced on Thursday that all scheduled live events had been moved online.

“After careful review and working in close collaboration with our teams, we are shifting all currently scheduled 2020 Call of Duty League live events to online-only competition, effective immediately,” read the CDL announcement.

Gaming events such as E3 2020, SXSW 2020, the Game Developer Conference and TwitchCon have been affected as well, with a high probability BlizzCon, which is traditionally scheduled for March-April, could follow suit.

The esports industry is but one branch of the global sporting community to feel the effect of COVID-19. Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) have all suffered disruptions, as have the major football leagues in Europe and Australia.

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The recipients of the awards were Raptors Uprising, Pacers Gaming and Magic Gaming, with the latter taking home two awards.

All 21 teams that participated during the NBA 2K League season were invited to submit their own entries for each category, with the winners chosen by the NBA 2K League executives and a committee consisting of representatives from each team.

The four categories teams competed in were:
– Digital Innovator of the Year
– Best Use of Streaming
– Local Activation of the Year
– Partnership of the Year

Raptors Uprising GC received the Digital Innovator of the Year award for their high-quality content and digital fan engagement throughout the year.

Their award-winning innovation was the video content series named 6ixtape, as a joint program between the NBA 2K League and Toronto urban music community.

The 6ixtape is a video series that features highlights from Raptors official NBA 2K League matches, accommodated by soundtracks from local Canadian urban artists.

With a rap and hip hop music accommodating NBA 2K League match highlights, the 6ixtape proved to be an innovative and exciting way to promote Raptors and NBA 2K League as a whole, and while series were by no means a huge hit, Raptor Uprising finished above T-Wolves, who were the second finalists for the Digital Innovator of the Year award.

Pacers Gaming were honoured with the Best Use of Streaming award for their use of Twitch streaming platform to engage with the community, which created a stronger bond between the fans and the
players.

With their regularly scheduled programming, Pacers achieved a consistent growth of viewership, which not only helped them gain a larger fan base but also brought the NBA 2K League matches closer and more accessible to a wider audience.

Magic Gaming earned the Local Activation award as well as the Partnership prize.

Magic Gaming partnered with Full Sail University in Winter Park to help them promote Full Sail’s new esports-focused curriculum. In addition to that, the also helped launch ‘The Fortress’, which is a new state-of-the-art home for the university’s esports team, which goes by the name Full Sail Armada.

Alongside Magic Gaming’s involvement with Full Sail University, the team also proved to be an ideal platform for Orlando Health, which is a health care provider for esports athletes. By becoming an official hospital partner of Magic Gaming, Orlando Health got an excellent opportunity to connect with local as well as national esports community via Orlando Magic’s assets, including jersey patches, on-court signage and community relations initiatives.

“The NBA 2K League teams honoured today represent the quality of innovation and partnership that we are used to seeing from our teams,” said Brendan Donohue, the NBA 2K League Managing Director.

“The best part about these awards is that they make all of our teams better and create a new pinnacle for them to strive for next season.”

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Following impressive performances against Kings Guard Gaming and Warriors Gaming Squad in the first two rounds of the playoffs, T-Wolves showed their strength once more when they took on the 76ers in the first-ever NBA 2K finals series to go to five games.

The Minnesota franchise started in the best possible way, grabbing a 17-9 lead after the first quarter. That lead only grew in the remaining three quarters as T-Wolves stormed to a 71-36 win.

In game two, the 76ers woke up and looked like a completely different team. Their impressive work in defence kept Wolves at only four points in the first quarter and only nine in the second. The Philadelphia side did not have problems scoring and took an impressive 31-13 lead at the halftime. The second half was even more lopsided as the 76ers squared the series with a 70-23 scoreline.

Technical difficulties ahead of game three meant the teams had over three hours to cool down and prepare the game plan. That seemed to benefit T-Wolves more than the 76ers, who failed to repeat their success from previous game and lost 47-56.

Philly needed to win game four to keep the series alive, and they did not disappoint. A close match ended with a 53-46 win for the 76ers, who emerged as the better team in the final quarter by outscoring their opponents by 15-6.

The decisive game five brought out the best out of both teams in a game worthy of being called the finals. Following a close third quarter, T-Wolves pulled away in the fourth and secured a 52-35 win to seal the NBA 2K League title and US $360,000 prize money.

Michael “BearDaBeast” Key, the former college basketball player at Piedmont International University and now T-Wolves point guard, emerged as the 2019 NBA 2K League Finals MVP with 23 points and six assists in game five.

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“What was my purpose of being there?” is the question that went through Anselimo’s mind when he found himself in a position no one would like to be in.

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In August 2018, we were witness to a tragic incident in Jacksonville when NFL Madden player David Katz carried out the first-ever mass shooting at an esports event. He took two lives, injured two players and in the end pointed the gun on himself.

On that day, the esports world lost Elijah Clayton and Taylor Robertson. One of the players who can be happy he survived was Anselimo, who was left with a shot wound to his chest and a serious injury to his hand.

At that time, oLARRY was one of the best NBA 2K players in the world. He was drafted in the inaugural season of the NBA 2K League by Bucks Gaming, where he made a name for himself with exceptional performances in the defence as well as showing his leadership skills.

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Only a week after the NBA 2K season ended, Anselimo decided to attend the NFL Madden tournament in Jacksonville. But the event, which was made to bring people together, soon turned dark.

Despite his critical condition, doctors managed to save Anselimo’s life and later focused on his thumb. The nature of the injury left his once-promising NBA 2K career in tatters.

Only a few weeks later, oLARRY was told he would not be playing for Bucks Gaming the following season; however, he would still return to the expansion draft. He was given another chance when he was picked up by Minnesota, who later traded him to Cleveland.

Despite his injury, oLARRY remained positive. He did, however, had to change the way he uses the controller. Instead of using his thumb, which may never fully recover, he adjusted his style and now uses his index finger instead.

It is a huge change, but a change he needed to make to keep playing his favourite game.

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The League started on April 4 when 17 teams drafted 6 players from the drafting pool. The regular season is set to start on May 11 but on May 1, the teams played the first tournament. During an entire week, the 17 teams played in games of 5 vs 5, using only original characters.

Two teams stood out from the rest, 76ers Gaming Club and Blazer5 Gaming. Both teams showed a clear superiority the entire week. 76ers struggled at times but once they reached the knockout stage, the team shined.

The squad lead by guard Ethan “ITZ_Radiant” White defeated Mavs Gaming, the Dallas representatives, in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal, the Philadelphia team took down Pistons Gaming Team from Detroit, Michigan by 18 points. The final against the Portland team had a similar result. 76ers defeated Blazer5 by 20 points and took home the $35,000.

76ers and the rest of the teams in the League must prepare for the regular season. Starting on May 11, the 17 teams will play a 17 weeks season that ends on August. Every team is scheduled to play at least on game every week for a total of 14 games.

In between the weekly matchups, the teams will have in-season tournaments and a postseason. Top eight teams will qualify for the postseason and eventually the final.

NBA 2K is currently the best-selling game in the sports genre. The competitive leagues expects to become the most successful league for sports games.

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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman broke the news over the weekend at the 2018 NHL All-Star press conference, confirming they will unveil an official e-League later this year.

The NHL’s e-League will feature professional-level competition for NHL 18, developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports, one of the largest gaming companies in the world. NHL 18 is the latest entry in an annual franchise which is considered the premier hockey video game in the world.

The series is under official license from the NHL to use the league’s colors, player names and likenesses, stadiums, and team names in the game, so it is the most appropriate game for the NHL to use for its esports foray.

Further details, including whether the NHL have an official partnership with EA to launch their new esports league, are presently unknown.

However, Bettman did confirm more news will come before the end of the regular season “when [they are] ready to launch.”

The news of NHL’s esports initiative, while surprising, has been hinted at in past meetings and buyouts for at least two years now.

Canadian sports journalist Elliotte Friedman confirmed in his 31 Thoughts column that the NHL discussed moving into esports at the Board of Governors meeting in December 2016.

“Ignore this at your peril, and the NHL isn’t. No one from the league will comment at this time, but it looks like the plan is to start small — then morph into something much bigger,” Friedman wrote of the NHL’s plans.

One NHL franchise, the Philadelphia Flyers, currently own an Overwatch League esports team called the Philadelphia Fusion and the Colorado Avalanche also have an unspecified stake in another OWL team.

The NHL joins the NBA and NFL as the latest North American sporting organization to enter the booming esports market, predicted to become a $2.3 billion industry by 2022.

The NFL have secured lucrative deals with both Disney and EPSN to broadcast the Madden NFL 18 Championship Series, another annual video game franchise developed by EA Sports with official NFL backing.

Meanwhile, the NBA has its own partnership with Take-Two Interactive, the publishers of the world’s most popular annual NBA series, NBA 2K, to launch the NBA 2K league in May. 17 of the NBA’s 30 teams have pledged their support for the inaugural esports season.

How will NHL 18 translate an esports league?

NHL 18 is one of EA Sports’ most underrated annual sporting game franchises in terms of quality and online popularity.

The multiplayer component of the game has a large portion of hockey fans who buy the game every year for the 6-on-6 team modes, which can easily be organized to play with or against friends and random opponents, and the netcode is significantly better than many other modern-day sporting games at the moment.

The game itself is solid, but it is up to the NHL to structure it right and make watching competitive virtual hockey just as thrilling as watching it live.

The ideal scenario for its long-term success would be to have the majority of the 31 teams support the e-League from the get-go, but we’ve also seen the NBA 2K League’s smaller amount of sponsors work out just fine for its inaugural season.

The NHL aren’t too far behind their basketball and football counterparts in diving into the esports industry at just the right time and we can definitely see its e-League attract a more mainstream audience to the overarching esports scene.

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