Each week we bring you a taste of what is happening around the commercial world of esports. We will focus on advances in the Irish sector when there are some, as well as on some of the commercial deals which are taking place and fuelling the rapid growth of this area within the world of sport.

IRELAND TO FACE WALES IN ESPORTS INTERNATIONAL

The Republic of Ireland may have lost to Wales in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday but there will be a chance to recover national pride when the first international event between Ireland and Wales in egaming takes place on December 5th.

Players from Irish Collegiate esports platform together with those from RL Ireland and the Irish Overwatch Community will represent Ireland against a Wales selection in an event that will be streamed on Twitch on Saturday, December 5th.

AD AGENCY SETS UP GAMING OFFSHOOT

DDB Worldwide, one of the largest ad agencies in the marketing game, has established what it says is the world’s first esports and gaming marketing agency.

DDB FTW (For the Win) will be based in Prague and also operate from the companies offices and affiliates in The Netherlands, France, Germany and Hong Kong.

The network is represented here in Ireland by Owens DDB based in Dublin but the local agency is not making any noise yet about additional capacity or reach into the Irish gaming sector.

The agency says it is entering the space to reach the almost three billion people around the world who identify as gamers.

“This category is not simply about playing Candy Crush or shooting games,” said Glen Lomas, EMEA President of DDB.

“It is a movement that spawns its own music, fashion and language. Gaming platforms are a lifeline of social connection for people during these trying times, and we expect the trend to continue in a post-Covid world.”

HONDA TO REVEAL FIRST LOOK AT NEW CIVIC ON TWITCH

Honda will give the general public a first look at the 11th generation of its popular Civic model exclusively on gaming-focused streaming channel Twitch tomorrow.

The latest new model will not be available to buy until 2022 but revealing the prototype in this novel space for big brand car manufacturers is a first.

Honda is deeply embedded within gaming with sponsorship of its team and league in the United States.

It is the only manufacturer to have its own branded channel on Twitch and that is where the reveal will take place.

There will be a live concert by the Grammy-nominated Cordae as part of the stream which is clearly reaching out to youth markets for what would be a classic first-time car buyer’s purchase.

RIO FERDINAND FOUNDATION BACK LONDON INITIATIVE

Last week we reported on The Mayor of London joining forces with grassroots esports organisation LDN UTD to provide participants from across the city with a unique opportunity to pursue a career in one of the world’s fastest-growing industries.

Young people across four London boroughs will be able to sign up to a range of digital workshops, hosted in partnership with Staffordshire University London, Salford University and the University of East London.

The workshops will be themed around a variety of topics including video editing, social media management and graphic design – all skills that have been a contributing factor in making esports a billion-pound industry worldwide, with global audiences eclipsing 500 million already in 2020.

In tandem with the digital workshops, budding gamers from the four Boroughs will go head-to-head in the inaugural LDN UTD Inter-Borough Esports Championships, which will give players the option of competing in either FIFA ‘21 or NBA 2K from 5th – 19th December. The tournament will be broadcast live across streaming platform Twitch.

Now the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, which has similar ambitions in tackling youth unemployment and disengagement, has also come on board to lend promotional heft to the tournament as a partner.

We also suggested that this was something which Dublin could emulate, perhaps in partnership with a number of the gaming companies that are based here?

We are moving towards exploring that with a number of interested parties.

Sport for Business Partners