Onboards “League of Legends” All-Stars Team SoloMid, NRG Esports as First Clients; Forms Strategic Alliance with Esports Marketing Agency Ader
Los Angeles, CA — March 25, 2019 — Since launching in 2009, Bent Pixels has partnered with celebrities and digital-native creators to accelerate revenue and support talent, networks, agencies and brands in scaling multi-platform video businesses, starting on YouTube. And today, the company announced a new division and its flagship clients focused on the Esports category. Bent Pixels also announced a new partnership with gaming marketing and talent agency Ader to work with its roster of creators to generate new revenue across platforms. The deal marks the second of its kind for Bent Pixels, which previously announced a large deal with Abrams Artists Agency.
“The plans for expanding into Esports came organically as we saw more and more Esports and streaming-focused creators and teams looking to scale their businesses beyond Twitch,” said Mike Pusateri, CEO at Bent Pixels. “The category is white hot and these creators are looking to diversify their revenue streams across digital platforms. That’s where Bent Pixels’ Esports team excels — taking content across platforms, administering network operations and helping them monetize wholistically, at scale.”
To service creators in the competitive Esports and streaming communities, Bent Pixels has tasked a dedicated team to work with clients including Team SoloMid (TSM) and celebrity-backed NRG Esports and has already brought together Qualcomm and NRG Esports to be their Clash Royale Team sponsor.
“The business of Esports is on fire right now, but as a team, our main focus is to be great during the season and bring our competitive A games,” said Andy Miller, Chairman & Co-Founder, NRG Esports. “It’s been a huge asset to have Bent Pixels working for us in the background to make sure we’re scaling revenue and partnering with the right brands, like Qualcomm.”
Monetization for Esports has been isolated to a single platform mainly — Twitch. Bent Pixels’ team has opened a gateway for Twitch-based Esports teams and individuals to window and expand revenue streams intelligently, without cannibalizing the bread-and-butter business that Twitch offers. Estimated by NewZoo to be a $1.4 billion industry by 2020, Esports has grown into a stadium sport where championships draw viewing audiences in the thousands. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Bent Pixels is also uniquely positioned at the epicenter of gaming, given Vegas is home to a number of tentpole Esports championship tournaments.
Over the last decade, Bent Pixels has developed deep expertise in building the business on YouTube, on behalf of creators and influencers. With a headcount of 44 across two offices in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, Bent Pixels was among the earliest digital video businesses funded by YouTube for an Originals Channel with Shaquille O’Neal. The company has evolved and excelled beyond the MCN bubble without taking outside funding and has seen profitability and consistent YoY growth.
ABOUT BENT PIXELS
Bent Pixels (https://www.bentpixels.com/) is a revenue accelerator that empowers creators, agencies and management companies to efficiently operate and scale multi-platform video businesses. Using technology, Bent Pixels streamlines the process of managing a network, operating a video business and scaling revenue from multiple sources. To support its talent and customers, Bent Pixels draws on over 10 years of expertise and deep relationships with YouTube and newer video platforms like Facebook and Twitch. In Fall of 2018, Bent Pixels expanded its footing in Esports with the launch of a new division to service creators and networks in the category, including Team SoloMid (TSM) and NRG Esports. The company also runs paid media campaigns on YouTube and connect brands with talent for marketing opportunities. Bent Pixels, founded in 2009, is headquartered in Las Vegas and has an office in Los Angeles.
ABOUT ADER:
Ader, as the leading esports and gaming advertising agency and talent management company, provides turnkey solutions to game publishers and non-endemic brands who want to connect to over 100 million gaming fans through Twitch, YouTube and other platforms.
ABOUT NRG ESPORTS:
NRG Esports is an American esports organization, formed after co-owners of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings purchased the LCS spot of Team Coast’s League of Legends team. Led by the expertise of traditional sports and the tech biz, NRG Esports is looking to set precedence in the industry of esports. Its incredible investment group brings the traditional sports experience to the table from the NBA and MLB, as well as the business experience from industry titans such as Apple, IBM, and NBC. Our players, coaches, analysts, and trainers represent a collection of world-class talent and passion.
ABOUT TEAM SOLOMID (TSM):
Team SoloMid (TSM) is a North American Esports Team, created around the community website SoloMid.Net by brothers Andy “Reginald” Dinh and Dan “Dan Dinh” Dinh in September 2009. Team SoloMid is the only team to qualify to all of the first seven World Championships and all of the first ten NA LCS Finals. The team was first seen in early 2011 after being formed to participate in the Riot Season 1 Championship later that year.
Stats/Sources:
- NewZoo 2018 Global Esports Market Report – https://newzoo.com/insights/trend-reports/global-Esports-market-report-2018-light/
- Global Esports revenues will reach $906 million in 2018, a year-on-year growth of +38.2%. North America will account for $345 million of the total and China for $164 million.
- Brands will invest $694 million in the Esports industry, 77% of the total market. This will grow to $1.4 billion by 2021, representing 84% of total Esports revenues.
- On its current trajectory, we estimate the Esports industry will reach $1.4 billion by 2020.
- Experts say Esports betting expected to surpass $6 Billion in 2018 – https://www.ktnv.com/news/experts-say-Esports-betting-expected-to-surpass-6-billion-in-2018
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