LATAM esports leagues, sponsorships, and investments
Published: Jun 30, 2021
Latin America is one of the fastest-growing regions for esports and esports betting. The esports audience in Latin America has reached 55 million people in 2020 and is expected to grow to more than 70 million in 2022. One of the biggest esports competitions in Latin America is Liga Latinoamérica for League of Legends.
DOTA 2 and CS:GO are also very popular esports in the region. CS:GO especially has a major scene in Brazil. Brazilian teams like MIBR and FURIA are some of the best on the globe and compete in major worldwide events.
With the rapid growth in popularity, the esports betting market in Latin America is definitely in need of some serious investment and the companies and leagues mentioned in this article are at the frontlines of the growth of esports in Latin America. Top LATAM esports sponsorships, investments, and leagues.
Sponsorships and investments
1. Betway and FURIA
The online betting operator Betway partnered with the Brazilian esports organisation FURIA. FURIA is one of the biggest esports organisations in Brazil and it has strengthened Betway’s foothold in the growing LATAM market.
As part of this new partnership, the two companies are collaborating on a number of different activations for fans, the biggest being the Betway esports scene. You should expect to see cross collaborations and exciting activations across the BetwayTV platform, the bookmakers online streaming service.
FURIA will also gain access to the other partner organisations that have made deals with Betway, both in Brazil and around the globe. This is a step up for the organisation, who had previously partnered with Ontario-based bookmaker Rivalry. This is a fantastic opportunity if you want to bet on esports in Brazil.
2. Sirplay and Oddin
Sirplay and Oddin have joined forces and signed a mutual partnership to bring their own esports betting solution to the Latin American market. This betting solution is not an exclusive one, and it has been offered to multiple bookmakers in the region.
Sirplay is a sports betting software expert. They bring their expertise to developing markets around the world. They have four offices in Malta, Peru, Argentina, and Colombia. They have 9 licenses in regulated markets in Africa and Latin America and they now operate in 22 countries around the world, 11 of which are in Latin America.
Oddin is a B2B esports technology solution. They operate their data-driven and AI-powered iFrame solution in partnership with official data from Bayes Esports to supply a variety of live betting opportunities.
That is a very wordy way of saying that they can deliver up to the second live coverage and engagement with esports. It is a business solution that the company claims will help engage bettors, drive volume, and improve profitability for betting operators.
3. VIE.bet and Infamous Gaming/Movistar Liga Pro Gaming League
Esports Entertainment Group now has sponsorship deals with Infamous Gaming, Peru’s largest esports organization, and Movistar Liga Pro Gaming League, produced by Live Media Esports Entertainment. These partnerships are in connection with their VIE.bet esports brand.
Infamous Gaming is one of the largest esports organizations in Latin America. Based in Peru, the organization’s field teams in DOTA 2, Rainbow 6: Siege, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and Valorant.
Movistar Liga Pro Gaming League is produced by Live Media Esports Entertainment. It is a Latin America based DOTA 2 tournament that hosts some of the best teams in the region like, Infinity Esports, EgoBoys, and the previously mentioned, Infamous Gaming.
4. Esports Charts and Loud
Esports Charts, the esports analytical data agency entered into a partnership with the Brazilian Esports Organization LOUD. LOUD is a mobile esports team founded by Bruno Bittencourt (known online as Bruno “Playhard”), Jean Ortega, and Matthew Ho at the beginning of 2019. It is focused on the game Free Fire.
Since its inception, the team has gone on to participate in the Free Fire World Championship 2019, finish as a runner up in the Pro League 2019, and win the America Cup in 2020. Besides Esports Charts, they have some other major sponsors like the streaming platform Nimo TV, Discord, and the Fusion brand energy drink.
This partnership sees Esports Charts provide the organisation with access to the Streams Charts analytical service as well as analyse logo integrations for select streamers in LOUD’s roster. This is a huge step forward for the esports scene in LATAM. They have access to some of the best esports analytics in the world.
Top LATAM Esports Leagues
1. Liga Latinoamérica
Liga Latinoamérica is the top-level League of Legends tournament in the LATAM region. The esports league is run by Riot Games, the developers of League of Legends, and as such, it is considered an official and serious tournament.
It is split up into two phases:
Phase 1
- Eight teams participate
- Double Round Robin
- Each match is best of one
- Winning a match grants one point
- Top five teams advance to Phase 2
Phase 2
- Five teams participate
- Single Round Robin
- Each match is best of one
- Teams keep their points from Phase 1
- Winning a match grants two points
- Top four teams advance to Playoffs
This year, the teams taking part are All Knights, Estral Esports, Furious Gaming, Infinity Esports, Isurus, Kaos Latin Gamers, Rainbow7, and XTEN Esports. These eight teams make up the top tier of the League of Legends esports talent in the LATAM region. This is one of the top esports leagues in Latin America and as such it attracts some of the biggest LATAM esports sponsorships.
2. Movistar Liga Pro Gaming League
Movistar Liga Pro Gaming is one of the biggest organizers of esports leagues in Latin America. They are the flipside of the Liga Latinoamérica coin. They both organise esports leagues that feature popular MOBA style games. This time Movistar Liga Pro Gaming organises major DOTA 2 tournaments.
They are so popular in the DOTA 2 scene in the LATAM region that Valve, the developers of the game, decided to support them financially. Valve is supporting them in hosting two tournaments in Latin America.
3. Santander and Liga Brasileira de Free Fire
Santander has become the official bank and partner of Liga Brasileira de Free Fire (LBFF) and is offering promotions for Garena Free Fire fans. This is a huge partnership for the up-and-coming mobile esports tournament. For an international bank like Santander to sponsor a mobile esports tournament shows that the LATAM esports sponsorships are not just focused on the major PC and console titles.
This partnership will see Santander offer fans sweepstakes for Diamonds, the in-game currency for cosmetic products in Garena Free Fire. You can get the Diamonds if you use ‘SX’ — Santander’s financial solution for the Central Bank of Brazil’s ‘PIX’ payment system. People who register their social security number — in Brazil, their CPF — or mobile number will receive 600 Diamonds, and those who make at least one monthly PIX transaction can receive 50 Diamonds per month.
4. Coldzera and Parimatch
International betting tech company, Parimatch, signed Marcelo Augusto David (better known as “Coldzera”) as their Global Esports Ambassador. Marcelo Augusto David is a Brazilian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro, famous for being the best CS:GO player 2 years in a row.
Parimatch is the global betting partner of Fnatic and the title partner of Virtus.Pro. The company started in 1994 and grew to become one of the biggest betting companies in Europe. They seem to be at the forefront of many of the new and rapidly growing sporting opportunities.
They also launched their own major DOTA 2 competition “Parimatch League”, the first time that a betting company has organized its own tournament. After the DOTA 2 event, they launched Parimatch League CS:GO, an online league for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams.
With this partnership with Coldzera, it is clear that Parimatch, a traditionally European betting company is making overtures at moving into the Latin American market.
5. Copa Elite Six da América
The Copa Elite Six da América (translated as American Elite Six Cup) is a continental Rainbow Six: Siege tournament that is organised by Ubisoft, the developers, and sponsored by Acer, which is promoting its laptop brand Predator, Logitech, and Intel.
It will feature the best of the best. Teams from the Brazilian Championship, the Mexican Championship, and the South American Championship will all take part in this tournament. It has attracted some international attention; teams like Ninjas in Pyjamas, FaZe Clan, and Team Liquid are not originally Brazilian organizations, but they invest in and field Brazilian Rainbow Six Siege rosters that qualified in the local league. That means that they are taking part in the competition.
6. Lenovo and Circuito Brasileiro de Counter Strike
Lenovo and their Legion brand of gaming PCs and laptops are partners with the Circuito Brasileiro de Counter Strike (CBCS). This is a major Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament in the LATAM region.
They are providing the league with notebooks, monitors, and other peripherals as well as creating a variety of content for social media and during the league’s transmission throughout the year. In return, the brand will be promoted throughout the tournament. This is a Regional Major which means that this is important for teams that want to move on to the international level. It will be the focus point for most of the CS:GO pros in the LATAM region.
Esports in LATAM
More and more companies are making moves in Latin America. The rapid growth of the esports scene in the region has made investing in the industry a lot more enticing. And it isn’t just the major corporations that are set to benefit from this investment. The more money that flows into the esports scene, the more players, tournaments, and organisations can support themselves full time.
This is a boom time for the industry and I would expect the esports scene in the region to keep on expanding.
