PokerStars.fr has agreed to sponsor the second season of the Esports European League, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) competition shown exclusively on the Canal+ television Channel C8.
It is understood that mainly five French and Danish CS:GO teams will be involved in the second season, for which qualifiers are to be held next (November) month.
The sponsorship is further evidence of PokerStar’s growing interest in the genre; two of its ambassadors, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Randy “nanonoko” Lew, play in eSports professional teams, and the company’s new Power Up product is essentially a real money poker – eSports hybrid game.
In related news, reports from the US on Thursday are that the owners of $5 billion MLB franchise New York Yankees have invested in a partnership with Vision eSports, involving the baseball giant in League of Legends professional team Echo Fox, Twin Galaxies (an eSports platform), and Vision Entertainment, which produces eSports media content.