As e-sports picks up global visibility, mainstream brands are finding ways to connect with the phenomenon and those who are hooked onto it.
And as the rage hits Canadian soil with the first North American League of Legends Summer Finals to be held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto this weekend, 7-Eleven is looking to cash in on the action by drawing some of the sold-out crowd into its nearby convenience stores.
The lead sponsorship deal will see 7-Eleven branding across theScore’s e-sports apps on both iOS and Android; those ads also include store locations close to the games. In addition the chain-store brand is sponsoring push alerts and app presenters for the duration of the tournament.
The relationship with 7-Eleven was brokered by communications agency InComm.
Tyler Cameron, director of sales at theScore, told MiC the partnership was a good match. “[7-Eleven’s branded League of Legends’ pre-paid cards can be found across stores in Canada and are a perfect market fit for our e-sports coverage for this weekend’s huge event.”
e-sports is expected to post global revenues of over $1 billion by 2017, according to market research firm SuperData; 77% of that investment is expected to come from brands. Progamers will soon see Canadian teams hit the big leagues through a locally produced global tournament by Northern Arena in the first week of September, alongside FanExpo.
Cineplex has also invested in the space at the amateur level through its acquisition of U.S.-based WorldGaming in 2015, as well as its Sony partnership with the launch of the Cineplex WorldGaming Canadian Tournament.
The North American League of Legends Summer Finals run this weekend.
