ESL Gaming has announced a strategic partnership with digital and social media football content firm 433.
According to the release, the partnership will focus on ‘increasing the global visibility’ of the bevestor Virtual Bundesliga (VBL), a FIFA esports competition.
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The deal will see VBL short form video-on-demand formats and social content stories be featured on the 433’s esports channel. This covers VBL’s grand finals, which commences today and concludes on June 6th.
Moreover, 433 will accompany next season’s bevestor Virtual Bundesliga with English-language highlight content. Moreover, the form will provide a range of activations within Instagram. This includes recaps, goals of the day, and quizzes.
ESL Senior Vice President Global Business Development Bernhard Mogk, commented: “With over 65m social media followers worldwide, 433 not only represents the largest digital soccer community in the world, but it is also a perfect fit for the bevestor Virtual Bundesliga.
“Partnering with 433 emphasised our international goals for the bevestor Virtual Bundesliga, providing further engaging social content for our global eFootball community.”
In November 2020, ESL announced a partnership with the DFL German Football League to ‘further develop’ the VBL. This included taking over the media production for its national competitions and gaining extensive media rights to the VBL.
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Some of 443’s partners within football include the Bundesliga, The FA, FC Barcelona, Manchester City, and Arsenal, among others.
Juul Manders, CEO of 433, added: “eFootball, and esports in general, are a vital part of the 433 community. We’re extremely excited to partner with the world’s largest esports company. Through this unique partnership with ESL Gaming, we’ll be able to deliver the best content to our followers on 433esports, living up to our name as the Home of Football.”
It has also been announced that ESL will partner with 433 ‘to target other gaming verticals in addition to eFootball’. However, no further information has been revealed.
Esports Insider says: ESL’s partnership with 433 should help boost the VBL’s profile, particularly within the traditional sports sector. Moreover, this deal highlights the benefits of DFL having a company within the esports sector, such as ESL, to develop its esports competitions.