The American telecommunications company AT&T has partnered with the esports production company ESL to launch the ESL Mobile Open, a new mobile esports league aimed at amateur players.
With AT&T acting as the league’s founding sponsor, the ESL Mobile Open is looking to give aspiring mobile esports athletes opportunities to compete in stadiums around the United States at DreamHack and ESL One events. The league will have an annual prize pool of US$330,000.
“We believe that mobile will provide the opportunity to bring the next generation of esports enthusiasts into the fold. A first in the industry, ESL Mobile Open was developed to provide anyone with a phone access to compete at the highest levels with both established and emerging mobile esports titles,” said Yvette Martinez-Rea, CEO at ESL Gaming North America in a statement.
The ESL Mobile Open will be run all year long and is split into three seasons, with the inaugural season kicking off on March 18th. The league will feature three titles for its first season: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile, Clash of Clans, and Asphalt 9: Legends.
The league competitions throughout each season will mostly take place online, leading up to an offline finals. For the inaugural season, the finals will be hosted at DreamHack Dallas starting on May 31.
“This is a perfect example of why we chose to work with ESL starting last year – they’re leaders in advancing the technology for esports players at all levels, in addition to delivering great tournament play for fans anywhere. Our sponsorship investments help us grow customer relationships by connecting with their passion for esports, and we’re looking forward to working with ESL to bring online mobile gameplay to our customers and any amateur gamers that want to get onboard with this new league,” said Shiz Suzuki, AVP of Sponsorships & Experiential Marketing for AT&T Communications.
The ESL Mobile Open is essentially the culmination of the partnership deal that ESL and AT&T signed in June last year, which placed the telecommunications company as the esports company’s North American telecommunications and mobile gaming partner.
To kick off the partnership, a Clash Royale tournament was held at AT&T’s annual SHAPE Technology & Entertainment Expo.
“AT&T is a natural for this program with their commitment to innovation in esports and gaming and by promoting broad access for players of all types and levels,” added Martinez-Rea.
AT&T has been busy with expanding its presence in the esports industry as of late, notably sigming its first esports team sponsorship with Cloud9 last week.
