NBA 2K League gains two major partners in Dell and Intel

03 April 2018

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The NBA 2K League today announced two significant partnerships with tech giants Dell and Intel.

Brendan Donohue, NBA 2K League
Brendan Donohue, NBA 2K League

This has gone out alongside the news that the league will be played on PC. 

The details of the partnerships see Dell named the Official PC Hardware and Monitor Partner, using its gaming brand, Alienware, throughout both the new NBA 2K League Studio and in the team training facilities.

NBA 2K League games will be played on Alienware PCs powered by Intel’s gaming processor, the 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-8700K Processor accompanied by Alienware’s 25” 240 Hz gaming monitors.

These are said to be ‘multiyear agreements’ and as such are two major partnerships for the NBA 2K League prior to the start of its inaugural season. The league, which was co-founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.,  is set to debut in May with 17 NBA teams and will feature 102 of the best NBA 2K players in the world. A number of the other NBA teams not yet involved are said to have expressed keen interested in getting involved in latter seasons too. 

In other big NBA 2K League news in the past few days, Kings Guard Gaming, the Sacramento Kings’ team, announced that none other than Shaquille O’Neal will be joining as GM. Read more on that here

Brendan Donohue, NBA 2K League Managing Director commented: “Our partnerships with Dell and Intel give us the ability to utilize state-of-the-art hardware and technology that will optimize league play and the viewing experience for fans around the world.

“The combination of Alienware and Intel will advance the elite gaming experience and we are thrilled to incorporate two of the top products and brands throughout the NBA 2K League during our inaugural season, and beyond.”

“Our commitment to enabling esports leagues, teams and professionals to perform at their best continues to excite and invigorate our team,” said Bryan de Zayas, Director of Dell Gaming, Alienware and Esports. “We are proud to partner with the NBA 2K League and Intel as the exclusive PC and displays provider bringing the best in class gaming systems and displays to the newly formed NBA 2K League and its players. Our partnership continues to close the gap between traditional sports fans and esports fans, while delivering the world-class gaming and viewing experience fans expect and deserve.”

“Intel plans to provide the best gaming experience for competitors and fans through its cloud to client solutions,” said John Bonini, Vice President and General manager of the VR, Gaming and Esports Group at Intel Corporation. “Intel has been a leader in the growth of the esports industry and community for more than 15 years, and the NBA 2K League’s fresh format will be a great showcase for esports.” We interviewed Bonini back at this year’s Katowice, and you can read this in full here

Alienware will also be the presenting partner of two initiatives – the NBA 2K League Draft Clash, a tournament on April 6th featuring 10 of the top picks from the inaugural NBA 2K League Draft on April 4th, and the NBA 2K League Halftime Show. Intel, meanwhile, will be the presenting partner of the NBA 2K League Studio, where Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon® processors will provide the technology infrastructure for the league’s regular season, playoffs, and Finals.

Dell’s technology was selected by 16 of the 17 teams participating in the inaugural NBA 2K League season. As such, the teams’ practice facilities will be equipped with Alienware PC hardware, including monitors and towers for in-season training.

Esports Insider says: Two huge partners announced for the inaugural season of the NBA 2K League. These are mammoth partners for the league and will ensure the teams’, main studio and players are well equipped ahead of tip-off in May. We’ve also learnt that the league will be played on PC, which is fairly key knowledge given that the draft starts tomorrow.