- ISPO steps up involvement in eSports
- Live broadcasts of championships on Twitch and ispo.com
- The aim: to attract new, young target groups
Since 2016, the Rocket League Championship Series has been the platform for the game’s top teams from North America, Europe, Oceania and South America to battle it out on, and boasts a prize pool of a total of USD 1,000,000. This year, for the first time ever, ISPO is broadcasting the competition live with German commentary on ISPO Digitize’s Twitch channel and on ISPO.com. More than 100,000 viewers tuned in for the regional championships on November 16 and 17 earlier this year. Attention is now turning to the Promotion Tournament (November 30 – December 1) and the absolute highlight of the series, the World Championship (December 13-15).
For ISPO, the increased involvement in eSports is a fitting strategic step designed to attract young target groups and further tap into the potential that this sport has to offer. Dr. Jeanette Loos, Global ISPO Group Director: “We believe in the power of eSports to bring people together and to drive innovation. It is not just an international and digital sport but about as inclusive a sport as you can possibly get. That’s why we are so keen to step up our involvement in this area. We are thrilled to be the exclusive broadcaster for the RLCS 2019 in the German-speaking world.”
ISPO receives support from the eSports consultancy Force of Disruption and Team FireWall, which already organized the AMD Masters by ISPO Digitize. In collaboration with gaming PC manufacturer Tentelian, Team FireWall takes care of the production side of all the streaming and simultaneously brings a large and extensive community from the German-speaking world along for the ride with it.
With Jonas “vel” Schaffrick, Arne “Baithoven” Löffler and Pascal “Bass” Brand, who as is clear from their online “handles” are former and/or active Rocket League professionals, ISPO and Team FireWall are bringing together some of the most sought-after talented individuals and presenters that the game has to offer in the German-speaking world.
Numerous well-known eSports organizations are competing against each other in the current eighth season of the Rocket League Championship. The favorites include: Reciprocity, who are currently topping the leaderboard of the Regular Season in Europe, as well as Veloce, the only team with German players in it. From North America, NRG in particular, which has been the best team in the region for some time now, and Spacestation Gaming are looking good. Pittsburgh Knights are the insider’s tip though.
Overview of the scheduled broadcasts
- Promotion Tournament NA – November 30, 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. (CET)
- Promotion Tournament EU – December 1, 6 p.m. - 11 p.m. (CET)
- The World Championship LAN Finals – December 13 to 15, time tbc
Rocket League will also be a firm fixture on the program of events at the upcoming ISPO Munich from January 26 to 29, 2020. As such, the well-equipped eSports Arena at the East Entrance will play host to the AMD Rocket League Masters 2020. Other highlights awaiting visitors on site will include the hosting of the SIMRacing Cups and the Finals of the UNILEAGUE eFOOTBALL (FIFA20). There will also be presentations and discussions as well as a Hackathon on eSports and the future of sports. All the action on stage will be broadcast on Twitch, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Various gaming events will also be held in the events area in Hall C6. The detailed program will soon be available online.