MLG has a growing presence in North America and partners in Europe and Asia, but MLG Brasil marks the first separate, international MLG franchise.
MLG Brasil marks a partnership with Grupo Águia, an established sports entertainment and hospitality company in Brasil.
The first official event for MLG Brasil will be the qualifying rounds for the Brazilian Online Call of Duty Championship on February 16 and 23. Qualifying players will make their way to Los Angeles March 28-30 for the Call of Duty Championship, which will feature teams from around the world and will be broadcasr on MLG.tv.
To see the full press release for the announcement, head to page two.
Our Take
Major League Gaming is growing steadily to become a worldwide phenomenon, and this seems like a big step for the organization. MLG already reaches an international audience with international players, but setting up separate branches in alternate parts of the world could have huge effects on the competition, and the viewership.
Major League Gaming Announces First International Franchise: MLG Brasil
NEW YORK, February 14, 2014 – Major League Gaming (MLG), the global leader in eSports, today announced a partnership with Grupo Águia, Brazil’s largest and most established sports entertainment and hospitality company, to launch MLG’s first international franchise – MLG Brasil. After 11 years of continued growth in North America and successful partnerships with international leagues in Europe and Asia, MLG is expanding to the largest market in Latin America to debut its first franchise. Leveraging decades of expertise working with global sports and tourism initiatives like the World Cup, Grupo Águia will further MLG’s global presence by building an extensive competitive gaming platform in South America.
The collaboration kicks off with support for the Call of Duty Championship Brazilian Online Qualifiers on February 16 and 23. MLG Brasil will coordinate with MLG in the US to help facilitate the online qualifiers as teams aim to advance to the Call of Duty Championship in Los Angeles from March 28-30. The Call of Duty Championship will feature the top 32 teams from around the globe and will be broadcast exclusively on www.MLG.tv. In the coming months, MLG Brasil will roll out in person competitions and online tournaments leveraging the MLG rules and ranking system, broadcasts via MLG.TV and more.
“Grupo Águia’s longstanding position as the leading sports entertainment company in Latin America and extensive experience working with the World Cup made them the perfect partner for our debut franchise,” said Mike Sepso, MLG co-founder and President. “MLG has long been focused on growing the competitive gaming scene and we quickly recognized the tremendous opportunity to create a strong presence in the largest economic market in Latin America. This is the first of many international franchises we plan to roll out in the coming years and we are excited to provide South American gamers with the ultimate platform to compete on a global scale.”
“MLG has built a new culture of competition and revolutionized the market by creating an innovative broadcasting platform similar to traditional sports. We are pleased to be entering into this growing industry with the global leader in the space,” said Paulo Castello Branco Filho, MLG Brasil CEO. “As the fourth largest market in the world, we know there is enormous potential in Brazil and an appetite for competition. Our goal is to further MLG’s global success using MLG’s proven model to help Brazilians earn a spot amongst the best eSports players in the world.”
About Major League Gaming:
Major League Gaming (MLG) is the global leader in eSports. The company operates MLG.tv, the #1 online broadcast network for professional level competitive gaming; the MLG Pro Circuit, the longest-running eSports league in North America; and MLG: Play, the largest cross platform online gaming tournament system with 9 million registered users across the globe. MLG is one of the fastest growing digital networks worldwide with over 1557% growth in audience over the last four years. Each month, the company reaches millions of highly-engaged fans via web, mobile, connected TVs and gaming consoles making it the definitive property for major advertisers to reach young men (90% male, 50% 16-34 year olds, 76% 21+, and over 40% HHI $100k+). For more information: www.mlg.tv.
About Grupo Águia:
Grupo Águia is Brazil’s largest specialized travel group and has gained the trust and recognition from the Brazilian and international tourism industry thanks to the business vision of its founders, their obsession with technical and operational excellence, their skills in managing resources and talents by combining performance, boldness and expertise, and especially their ability and commitment to fulfill the dreams of their customers, partners and employees. Made up of more than 10 companies and with 600 employees, Grupo Águia is well-known in Brazil and abroad for its expertise in key tourism sectors, such as leisure, incentive and business travel, experience trips, sports travel, and air and ground transportation.
The history of Grupo Águia began long before its foundation in 2004. When its founding partners took a mutually shared dream of building a large-scale and comprehensive Brazilian travel group, they had amassed a vast amount of experience in the tourism industry, i.e., enhancement of the Brazilian incentive travel market and participation in several World Cup editions from 1966 to date. Since 2011, along with Traffic Sports, Grupo Águia is the official representative for sale of Hospitality for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™. For more information: www.grupoaguia.com.br