From sponsorships to industry-wide announcements, Insider Sport has you covered when it comes to the world of esports.
This week’s edition highlights the latest developments within the sector, including the RLCS 2024 World Championship failing to surpass last year’s peak viewership.
Reporting a viewership of 426,833, the event held in Texas, US came short of last year’s peak viewership of 468,292. However, average viewership increased slightly by around 5,000 to 153,718.
This year marked the start of a new format, featuring two splits and each having three open qualifier events leading into an international major. The highest point scorers from each regional league then took part in the RLCS World Championship, which featured a prize pool of $1.165m.
Team BDS were crowned champions of this year’s competition, taking home $300,000. However, the team did take part in the most watched round of the tournament. This was the semifinal between Karmine Corp and G2 Esports – Kamine Corp also played in the most-viewed series last year.
According to Esports Charts, French supporters (220,001) registered more peak viewers than English-speaking fans (206,830). Additionally, the tournament struggled in terms of total hours watched, which decreased by more than two million hours.
This decrease can be attributed to reduced total airtime of the tournament, as the 2024 RLCS World Championship recorded 16 hours less than last year’s edition.
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BLAST strengthens ties with Unilever ahead of 2024 events
Esports tournament organiser BLAST has announced three brand partnerships with food and beverage brands owned by Unilever.
The three Unilever owned brands are Knorr, Unox and Pot Noodle, with the latter of the three renewing an existing deal with BLAST. These deals are set to last until September 2025, with all three to feature at the remaining BLAST Premier Fall season events in 2024.
Under the agreements, all three brands will become official convenience meal partners of BLAST Premier and will be integrated into the broadcasts for BLAST Premier events taking place later this year. Additionally, the three brands will feature in BLAST’s updated Premier circuit next year.
Branding will be broadcast alongside in-game/digital integration. The partners will also have short-form content which is set to appear on BLAST’s channels.
Alexander Lewin, SVP of Commercial Revenue for BLAST, commented: “Fans watching from across the BLAST network can look forward to a fully encompassing partnership that goes beyond just broadcast integration, including on-site activations at our return to London next year.
“With a brand new format changing how BLAST Premier looks in 2025, we’re excited to already get work underway and bring our first brands onboard for a brand new year of Counter-Strike action!”
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Epic Global reveals rebrand ahead of expansion
Epic Global, an esports and gaming consultancy company, has rebranded to Feenix Group following a £1.26m investment.
Quintas Capital and Beach Point Capital Management are behind the investment, which will see the company launch four separate segments, including a gaming studio and talent management division.
The new game development studio, named Feenix Studio, will be focused on brand and IP integrations into Roblox and Fortnite, whereas the second new venture is called Feenix Talent, a talent management agency for esports athletes and gaming creators.
Known as an established esports and gaming agency, Epic Global has supported esports brands and connected with potential sponsors. Despite expanding into new services, the company has stated that it will continue working on partnership management, consultancy and gaming marketing.
Sinead Hosey, Co-founder of Feenix Group, commented: “We’ve long been recognised as one of the most trusted and reputable agencies in the gaming and esports industry and with this rebrand we’re excited to cover new ground as we establish more brands and talent figures in the gaming space.
“We’ve already signed some groundbreaking deals that are sure to cause ripples once announced so stay tuned for more.”
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Guild Esports expands into PUBG Mobile
PUBG Mobile Esports has partnered with UK-based esports organisation Guild Esports.
Following the deal, Guild Esports will compete in four PUBG Mobile tournaments, which are set to take place in 2024 and 2025.
The first event the team will play in is the PUBG Mobile Super League (PMSL) Fall EMEA tournament, taking place 16 September-6 October. This expansion into PUBG Mobile takes the total number of Guild Esports rosters to eight.
Guild Esports is one of four European teams competing at the PUBG Mobile Super League Fall event, with the competition featuring a $400,000 prize pool. Additionally, the other events are the 2024 PMGC Finals, 2025 PMSL EMEA Spring and 2025 PMSL EMEA Fall.
Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, commented: “We are excited to partner with PUBG MOBILE, a leading title that opens up new opportunities for us to grow our brand in Western Europe and expand into the rapidly evolving mobile gaming sector.
“This collaboration enables us to be part of this growth across Western Europe. We look forward to working with PUBG MOBILE to create experiences for fans in the UK, Western Europe and globally.”
“PUBG Mobile remains an area of expansion for several esports organisations. In May, North American organisation NRG launched its own division in collaboration with Samsung. Alongside new organisations entering the space, Level Infinite revealed the first LAN event of 2025 PUBG Mobile season will take place in Uzbekistan.”
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