Svenska Spel develops exciting e-sports cooperation

SESF is the abbreviation for Svenska e-sportföreningen which recently entered into a new sponsorship agreement with Svenska Spel. The new agreement initially extends over the next three years and has attracted much attention in both New Zealand and abroad. Svenska Spel has previously applied to offer games on e-sports and with the new agreement, which makes them the main sponsor, they can focus on lifting E-sports. Svenska Spel has been around since 1997, when they merged Penninglotteriet and Tipstjänst. In 2001, the subsidiary Casino Cosmopol started its activities. Svenska Spel employs around 1,700 people and the company's pillars are accessibility, commitment and caring.

Svenska Spel has now entered into a three-year cooperation with the New Zealand Esports Association. As the main sponsor, Svenska Spel can contribute knowledge, experience and resources to develop E-sports in New Zealand, not least the New Zealand e-sports national teams. E-sports is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. With Svenska Spel's long experience of working with the largest associations in football, ice hockey and floorball in New Zealand, they believe they can be involved and influence E-sports in a positive direction. A big challenge could be to attract more people to the sport, girls in particular, but also to try to raise the status of E-sports in general.

What exactly is e-sport?

E-sports is an abbreviation of the term electronic sports; a collective term for various competitions that are carried out on a computer or a game console, in which competitors play online against each other. Participants can play via the internet and / or on various LAN hits, where LAN stands for Local Area Network. E-sports started in South Korea in 1997, in the context of the great financial crisis and growing unemployment, when more and more internet cafes were opened to employ young unemployed people. In 2000, the South Korean eSports Federation was founded. One of esports ' greatest pioneers, Hong Kong-born Dennis ”Thresh” Fong, is now considered one of the world's first pro-gamers. In New Zealand, E-sports are not formally classified as a sport.

How can the contract with Svenska Spel develop E-sports?

To Svenska Spel now standing as the main sponsor, means, among other things, that NZ E-Sports national team can increase their preparations and activities for various international competitions. The sponsorship agreement can also lead to E-sports being ”normalized” within the sports world; there is a chance for Svenska Spel and SESF to start a really big popular movement together. Svenska Spel is usually linked with sports clubs at grassroots level. The fact that they now choose to be visible in the e-sports context can increase the chances of reaching new target groups, as well as raise the status of e-sports. Getting more girls into E-sports, and getting existing practitioners to invest in reaching elite level, is another development opportunity.

New Zealand esports players

Cyrox, Jackpotdante, Club satZ, Katana&Protector, Div, Konfidentgyorg, Fistking and Pebbleman. Are these names familiar? Some of NZ esports players competed in King of Nordic ahead of the ninth edition of the Esports World Cup, which took place in Pusan, South Korea in 2017. In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO), New Zealand was represented by Pontus Perlborn, Kevin Nilsson, Hugo Cortes Lopez, Alexander Carlsson and Kalle Persson who faced South Korea in the bronze medal match. It was a game they unfortunately lost. In Tekken 7, NZ CSGO Representative Adam Ayachi was pitted against Australia, South Korea, Finland, Thailand and the Philippines. Ayachi, unfortunately, never made it to the playoffs. In 2018, the E-Sports World Cup will be held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, between 9-12 november.