eSports
Team Vitality and adidas reveal League of Legends Open Tour roster
The new semi-pro team ‘Yellow Stripes’ will compete in the League of Legends Open Tour 2022 and benefit from Team Vitality and adidas’ unrivalled performance infrastructure, training alongside the likes of Perkz and Alphari
Team Vitality is pleased to reveal its new semi-pro League of Legends roster for 2022, in partnership with adidas. Yellow Stripes is made up of some of the most promising rising stars in League of Legends who will compete in the 2022 League of Legends Open Tour France. The new team will be powered by the same performance staff and facilities as Team Vitality pro players competing at the highest level to unlock their full potential. As main sponsor of Yellow Stripes for 2022, adidas will provide world class support to the team, including designing a bespoke jersey and a professional athlete, as a mentor to accompany the team throughout the year, give advice from his career and provide all the experience a young team needs to get started.
The Yellow Stripes roster is made up of:
- Matias “matias” Manchin Opheltes, France, 21 years old, AD Carry
- Long-time competitor who has been playing League of Legends since season 5, and took part in the competitive season in the Portuguese League in 2021
- Alexis “Artoria” Diebold, France, 19 years old, Mid Laner
- Played competitively in the France open tour in 2020 before doing a split at MCES Italy this summer and it is his goal to reach Worlds.
- Lorenzo “Linkkey” Giorgiutti, France, 22 years old, Support,
- Played League of Legends competitively since he was 16 and went pro in 2020
- Julian “eaRyz” Wehinger, France, 21 years old, Jungler
- Began competing in League of Legends full-time in 2021 following successful performances in Open Tour France in 2019 and 2020
- John “Sotsy” Sicre, France, 23 years old, Top Laner
- Began competing in League of Legends in 2019 and has since performed well in both the Nordic UKCL and Open Tour Benelux
The team will be coached by Benjamin “Fara” Stoffel and seasoned League of Legends caster and content creator Martin “Krok” Berthelot will act as team manager. The team will have full access to Team Vitality performance facilities including V.Hive, their cutting-edge public esports complex, V.Performance in the Stade de France, and the Berlin coaching house. Yellow Stripes are the third Team Vitality League of Legends roster, joining the newly revealed LEC super team and LFL squad.
Yellow Stripes will make their stage debut on January 29th when the League of Legends Open Tour France begins, the annual semi-pro year-long competition, allowing rising stars to benefit from the environment of top tier pro LAN competition. The Open Tour France gives the next generation of pro players the opportunity to graduate to division 2, and be in with a slight chance to be recruited to the LFL.
“We are proud to invest resources into the amateur scene. This project is a unique opportunity for these young players to learn and grow into what we hope will be a great sporting career in the future. They have challenges ahead of them, but we have every ambition to get them to the final of the Open Tour.” Said Fabien “Neo” Devide, Co-Founder and Esports Director, Team Vitality. “We’re delighted to have a partner in adidas who is not just interested in having their brand represented on the biggest stages in esports, but are committed to helping develop and support the pros of tomorrow”
“True to our belief that through sport we have the power to change lives, we are very proud to participate to this program. adidas supports all athletes who want to make a difference in the way they play, regardless of their sports. Launching ‘Yellow Stripes’ initiative with Team Vitality is rooted in our brand DNA and in the way we want to challenge sports industry codes.” said Sylvain Bouches, VP Director Brand for adidas France.
Yellow Stripes marks the latest collaboration from Team Vitality and adidas in one of the longest standing partnerships in esports. adidas was the first sports kit supplier to invest in the French esports market with Team Vitality in 2017, and together they have created the first-ever esports sneaker, the VIT.01, which sold out worldwide within a week, and created the first sports jersey especially for an esports team. To capture the progress of Yellow Stripes, the brands will collaborate on an eight-episode documentary series following the teams’ progress in the Open Tour.
eSports
Emmy-Winning Director R.J. Cutler’s Docuseries Esports World Cup: Level Up Premieres June 6 on Prime Video
Prime Video, one of the leading entertainment destinations, will premiere the five-part documentary Esports World Cup: Level Up on June 6, with new episodes released weekly. Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler (Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, Elton John: Never Too Late and Martha), the series goes behind-the-scenes of the inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) in 2024 — a defining moment in global esports, where over $60 million in prize money ignited a high-stakes, multinational battle to crown the world’s top esports Club.
The series is produced by This Machine (a part of Sony Pictures Television), with R.J. Cutler directing, John Dorsey serving as showrunner, and Jane Cha Cutler, Trevor Smith, Elise Pearlstein and Mark Blatty executive producing. Level Up will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Esports World Cup: Level Up offers a rare look inside a global competition that’s redefining what it means to be a champion for a new generation of athletes and fans. R.J. Cutler and his team of expert storytellers embedded themselves within the eight-week tournament – watched by over 500 million fans globally – to uncover the personal sacrifices, rivalries and stakes driving the action.
Shot in verité style, the series combines intimate home visits from around the world and on-the-ground coverage from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It follows a wide cast of characters – from Club CEOs orchestrating million-dollar strategies to rising stars chasing life-changing wins – while capturing the pulse of elite esports competition.
“What drew me to the Esports World Cup was the compelling human stories unfolding within this high-stakes arena. Level Up isn’t just about the incredible competition and prize money; it’s about the dedication, the passion, and the sheer will of these athletes and teams pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Under high pressure, we discover the true character of the competitors who vie for $60 million, but who also expose their humanity in the process,” said Cutler.
At the heart of Level Up is the “EWC Club Championship,” an unprecedented, multi-title tournament format where Clubs compete across more than 20 games, earning points toward a single leaderboard. Every match, every point, reshapes the race for global dominance. With the highest prize pool in esports history on the line, the EWC is not just a tournament – it’s a proving ground for the next generation of sports icons.
“A win might make the headlines — but the real story is the people behind it. Level Up dives into the human side of esports: the pressure, the ambition, the sacrifices. It’s about what it really takes to compete at the highest level — and why it matters. R.J. is the best at bringing those stories to life, and this one captures the heart of what we’re building,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation.
The post Emmy-Winning Director R.J. Cutler’s Docuseries Esports World Cup: Level Up Premieres June 6 on Prime Video appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Esports betting pioneer adds daily fantasy esports offering to its growing range of products, with its sights set on the US market
PandaScore, the award-winning provider of esports odds, data and betting products, has continued to push boundaries with the launch of Daily Fantasy eSports, a truly groundbreaking product for operators and players.
Daily Fantasy eSports has been developed for the US market but will have global appeal with players drawn in by the chance to create virtual teams of real-life players and earn points based on their actual game performances.
Contests range from daily matchups to season-long leagues, with plenty of prizes up for grabs.
PandaScore’s Daily Fantasy eSports is backed by an expert-led esports trading team to deliver fast, accurate settlement data across unique, player-focused markets driven by the provider’s established and proven betting models.
An Interactive Player Widget serves up rich player stats and profiles, with PandaScore’s powerful BetBuilder enabling same-game parlays.
But that’s not all. PandaScore has more than 17,000 players in its esports player age and info database, the largest in the market.
It also offers dedicated helper codes and documentation to ensure smooth and seamless operator integration. It really is as easy as 1-2-3.
1 – There is a kick-off call to align on goals, timelines and fantasy formats.
2 – The operator accesses PandaScore’s dedicated fantasy-focused API to accelerate the build
3 – The dedicated integration manager ensures effortless onboarding and a successful launch
By leveraging PandaScore’s odds and data, alongside its team of experts and specialists, online sportsbook and daily fantasy sports operators can launch faster, ensure accuracy and scale their Daily Fantasy eSports offering with confidence.
Oliver Niner, Head of B2B at PandaScore, said: “Daily Fantasy eSports is a pioneering product from PandaScore that will really hit the mark with operators across North America, as well as other global markets.
“It allows operators to engage esports fans and bettors with a compelling product and proposition, but without the degree of risk that comes with standard betting as the payouts are controlled.
“Daily Fantasy eSports is already live with Dabble and is performing incredibly well, so we look forward to going live with more operators in the coming months.
“This really is a game-changing product, and we can’t wait to see it become available at some of the biggest betting brands in North America and beyond.”
The launch of Daily Fantasy eSports complements PandaScore’s growing esports betting offering, which includes odds and data for a huge number of disciplines, plus betting products like its BetBuilder, MicroMarkets and StoryBuilder.
The post PandaScore launches game-changing Daily Fantasy eSports product appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Esports Charts, a Ukraine-born analytics company that aggregates real-time viewership insights about esports, has won the Esports Innovation Award at the EsportsNext Industry Awards, hosted by the Esports Trade Association (ESTA) in Dallas, US.
The Esports Innovation Award recognizes an organization or individual that has introduced groundbreaking technology, services, or strategies significantly advancing the esports industry.
Esports Charts was honored for its scalable analytics platform, which provides comprehensive tournament and viewership statistics across more than 25 livestreaming services — helping stakeholders from publishers and teams to fans make smarter, data-driven decisions.
“Winning the Innovation Award from ESTA is an important milestone for us as a leading esports analytics service in the world. Also, we’re especially proud to represent Ukraine-born innovation on an international stage.
“From day one, our mission has been to bring clarity and transparency to the world of esports data. And this recognition from the industry is both an honor and a motivation to keep raising the bar.
“Thank you to our incredible team and partners, who believed in us from the start. This award is a shared success — and we’re just getting started,” Artyom Odintsov, co-founder and CEO of Esports Charts.
The post Esports Charts Wins “Esports Innovation Award” at the EsportsNext Industry Awards appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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