F.Y.I.

Fintech company Study Loans to sponsor Avant Gaming esports team

Student loan company Study Loans is the latest company to join esports team sponsorship wave with its support of Avant Gaming.

Startup FinTech sponsors one of Australia and New Zealand’s leading esports teams Avant Gaming

Student loan provider, Study Loans, has joined a growing wave of non-gaming brands to enter esports, concluding a deal with leading Australian esports team Avant Gaming to become a Major Partner of the team across all games and platforms, including the League of Legends outfit competing in the Oceanic Pro League, in addition to teams in CS:GO, Rocket League, Call of Duty, PUBG, and some of the leading gaming streamers across the region.

Given the sheer size and popularity of esports in Australia and globally, fintech startup Study Loans have opted to sponsor Avant Garde to reach and engage with a male, millennial audience – historically hard to reach through traditional channels – and in doing so are leading the charge in this country as brands begin to come to terms with the power of esports as an important component of their overall marketing strategy.

“With actual numbers of participants in Australia for individual games such as League of Legends, CS:GO and PUBG dwarfing most traditional sports and endeavours, and engagement levels off the charts through esports participants both actively competing and passively watching on a daily basis, it is no surprise that as brands start to better understand the extreme reach and power of this platform, they are looking to partner with leading esports teams and platforms.” said Ben Sellenger, CEO of Bastion Live, an investor and owner of Avant Gaming.

“We could not be happier to be working with such a progressive and forward thinking brand as Study Loans, providing them access to the perfect millennial audience which would otherwise be largely beyond their reach”.

The esports industry is currently experiencing rapid growth with a year-on-year sponsorship increasing by 41.3%, and global revenues reaching $696 million in 2017 – and set to double by 2020 pushing the total market to $1.5 billion.

“The esports industry is massive. Many millennials no longer tune in to watch traditional sports on television – they are now streaming their favourite esports teams and players playing on Youtube, Twitch and other alternative forms of media,” said Brett Shanley, CEO and Co-founder of Study Loans.

“Professional players globally, alongside leading esports personalities, are getting paid huge dollars, surpassing many professional athletes. It is a matter of time before this is replicated in this market.

“The people watching and playing esports are a completely different demographic and don’t consume traditional media – they’re not watching TV, reading newspapers, and use various ad-blocking services – so how are you supposed to market to them?

“We partner with institutions like General Assembly that offer courses like gaming design, UX and UI and coding, and the people interested in these qualifications are the very ones that follow esports.

“We hope, by sponsoring Avant Gaming, we’ll be able to tap into that community,” said Brett Shanely, CEO and Co founder of Study Loans.

With over 35,000 followers on social media Avant Gaming are widely followed by fans across the globe. The recent deal will see Study Loans act as a Major Partner of the team, branding on all Team Apparel, and creating significant team and game related content and campaigns to feed into the esports community.

From a Avant Gaming media release.

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