F.Y.I.

Nova locks in commercial arrangement with esports company ESL

Nova Entertainment has locked in a commercial arrangement with esports giant, ESL.

The announcement:

NOVA Entertainment, one of Australia’s leading entertainment companies, has today announced an exclusive strategic partnership with ESL, the world’s largest esports company.

This exclusive partnership will see NOVA Entertainment leverage its radio and digital platforms to promote ESL’s flagship event in Australia, IEM Sydney and the ESL AU & NZ Championships to the public. In addition, NOVA Entertainment will exclusively represent and sell ESL inventory for the ESL AU & NZ Championships in the Australian market.

Esports is characterised by multiplayer competitive video gameplay, typically by professional gamers, watched live or online by spectators. Audience growth has been phenomenal with the Australian fan base more than doubling in the past five years and global audiences expected to grow 14% to 380m esports viewers in 20182. The predominantly sponsorship and advertising driven esports economy is also tipped to exceed $900m in revenues in 2018 up 38% on 2017.

Nathan Reay, NOVA Entertainment’s Head of M&A, Strategy and Partnerships said, “We are excited to partner with ESL, a global leader in esports, with an established award-winning presence in Australia.  As esports experiences enormous growth, NOVA Entertainment is committed to being at the forefront of its expansion in Australia”.

The partnership, alongside NOVA Entertainment’s market leading Acast podcasting offering and the recent launch of millennial mobile-only platform GOAT, demonstrates the continued diversification of the company into a multi-platform entertainment business.

ESL has an extensive global digital footprint with over 2.2m followers on its Twitch streaming channel (ESL_CSGO) and over 1.6m Facebook followers on its global ESL page. IEM is the longest running global pro gaming tour in the world. The ESL AU & NZ championships will provide an exciting opportunity for brands to tailor sales and marketing opportunities for current esports fans whilst continuing to build audience.

Nick Vanzetti, ESL Australia’s Managing Director said, “ESL has pioneered the way in esports live events and broadcast innovation in Australia and it is our mission to continue to develop the ecosystem here. Partnering with NOVA Entertainment will provide the growth platform to bring mass audience to esports in Australia through IEM and the ESL AU & NZ Championships.”

Source: NOVA

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