We’re another month into 2023, and we once again bring you a Monthly Summary of the events, partnerships, and more, that happened on the GRID in May.
The GRID Team was everywhere from London, to Las Vegas, to Singapore sharing our knowledge with the industry — plus, a couple exciting esports events and new partnerships unfolded last month as well.
Keep reading to to find out more 👉
Announcements 📣
Unlocking the future of Esports betting: Re-Play eSports
GRID and Inspired are unlocking the future of esports betting by introducing Re-Play eSports — a new product from Inspired that is powered by GRID data, and merges virtual sports technology with esports.
Using archive match video and data from the Champion of Champions Tour (commissioned by GRID), Re-Play eSports delivers events every three minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for a unique betting experience.
“Being able to offer fixed odds eSports games through our existing Virtual Sports platforms is a unique fusion of two product verticals that have seen exponential growth over the past 2–3 years. Making eSports events available 24/7/365 across our certified Virtual Sports platforms is a uniquely exciting offer. We are looking forward to unveiling our Re-Play eSports™ game with GRID as a whole new genre of betting events aimed at capturing the attention of a different player demographic outside the more traditional sports betting community.”
Steve Rogers, Chief Commercial Officer of Virtual Sports at Inspired.
Read more about our partnership and the Re-Play eSports product on SBC News.
And head over to the Inspired website to watch the official Re-Play eSports trailer!
Partnered Events 🏆
Dota Pro Circuit: Tour 3
May 15 marked the beginning of Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Tour 3, bringing the world’s best Dota 2 talent together to face off around the globe and compete for a spot at the illustrious Dota Major.
As the official data partner for Dota Pro Circuit, we powered the competition with the GRID Data Platform — providing integrity services, data security services, and an additional monetization channel for the circuit.
Across all regions, the tour had generated an impressive set of numbers with over 17,500,000 hours watched in total, and peak viewers hitting over 156,000 for West Europe (stats from esportscharts) — congrats to Valve on these achievements. 👏
We are proud to be the official data partner of all DPC 2023 regions.
GRID at the LoL Mid-Season Invitational
Last month the GRID Team made their way to London to experience the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) first hand.
Our partner Riot Games organized the event, and it is safe to say they delivered a standout experience. Everything from the stage, to the gameplay, to the surrounding production was wonderfully executed — showing that Riot Games is once again raising the bar for the esports industry. 👏
Prior to, and after the event at the hotel lobby, was Moritz Maurer, Dominika Szot, Hans Cauwenbergh, and Tony Payne hosting a LoL tournament of their own — albeit a bit smaller. 😁
We are proud to be partnering with Riot Games for VALORANT, and are looking forward to seeing them lead the development of the industry with future events.
GRID Speaking Around the World 🗣️
The 18th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking
Right after the fun and games at MSI, Moritz Maurer and other members of the GRID Team headed to Las Vegas for the triennial International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking.
There Mortiz was joined by John Knauss, Sr. Manager, Technical Product Management at Riot Games, and Scott Sadin, Chief Operating Officer at U.S. Integrity for the panel:
“Industry Risks and the Role of Super Rights Holders: the Dynamics Between the Betting Industry and Video Game Publishers.”
We are grateful to have had the opportunity to be on a stage with our partners — Riot Games and US Integrity, Inc. and pave the way for recognition of stakeholders in esports ecosystem, standardization of terminology around game data, and the role in integrity that goes beyond tackling match fixing.
And a special thank you to Brett Abarbanel for bringing GRID, Riot Games, and US Integrity together for this panel.
GRID at G2E Asia
On the other side of the globe, GRID was being represented by Mikael Westerling, Chief Sales Officer, at G2E Asia in Singapore.
Mikael spoke alongside Jane G., CCO at Pinnacle, and Eric Weiss, President, North America, Odds On Compliance on the panel:
“Esports as a Sportsbook Product” — a discussion around bringing esports to the national lotteries, effectively incorporating esports events into sportsbook offerings, and the possibilities esports bring to the betting industry.
The conversation was fruitful and painted a picture of what the inclusion of esports in sportsbooks looks like currently, where this idea could be as the industries continue to grow, and the many possibilities that can come from it.
Conversations around the future of esports, especially in the context of sports-betting, are important ones as they allow the industry to get the ball rolling and establish realistic expectations for the future. We are always happy to be involved in discussions impacting the development of this space.
👩💻 Join the GRID Team
The GRID team is always growing!
If you are interested in finding a place at GRID, be on the lookout for open positions on our Recruitment page.
Stay up to date!
Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay in the loop with all of the exciting things happening at GRID.
And stay tuned for our Monthly Summary of June!
