Denmark-based RFRSH Entertainment has found an official betting partner for the 2018 season of its BLAST Pro Series in the form of Pinnacle.
This partnership kicks off with BLAST Pro Series: Istanbul starting on September 29th, it will run through both BLAST Pro Series: Copenhagen in November and the to-be-announced final tournament of the season.
Marco Blume, Trading Director at Pinnacle discussed the partnership: “We are thrilled to become the Official Betting Partner for BLAST Pro Series. As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we have been looking to build on our presence within the eSports scene and this relationship with BLAST is the perfect opportunity to do so.
“The rapid growth within the industry means there are ample partnership opportunities but we insisted on waiting for someone who matches our intent to have a real positive impact on the eSports community. Not only is this a big step for the business, but it’s also one that has generated a great deal of excitement amongst our employees. With so many genuine eSports fans working for Pinnacle, we’re now even more excited for the upcoming BLAST events.”
Pinnacle first entered the esports industry in 2010, when it became one of the first bookmakers to offer odds on esports. It has always dealt mainly in traditional sports, with markets for most of the popular sports – such as basketball, boxing, football, rugby, and American football.
Jakob Lund Kristensen, EVP Sales and Co-founder at RFRSH Entertainment also commented: “We are extremely excited to have entered into this relationship with Pinnacle. Pinnacle have been an ever present part of the esports community for many years and we are excited they have chosen BLAST Pro Series as the world class tournament to meet their objectives in their 20th anniversary year. We believe that Pinnacle’s prestige, values and commitment to their customers is the ideal solution for BLAST and our global audience, and we look forward to activating this partnership.”
This partnership is one in a long line of betting platforms and both tournaments & teams. For example, Betway recently sponsored the FACEIT London Major, it announced in February that it would sponsor major tournaments from ESL this year, and it also sponsors both Ninjas in Pyjamas & MIBR.
Endemic bookmaker Rivalry.gg, on the other hand, sponsors both Fnatic and Richard Lewis, veteran esports journalist, tournament host, and Director of Talent & Programming at ESP Gaming.
Esports Insider says: Pinnacle has been in esports for quite some time – perhaps this will be part of a bigger push in an attempt to claim more of the growing market? BLAST Pro Series tournaments are always a blast (sorry) so the bookmaker has seemingly picked a good partner if it does indeed intend to take things up a notch.