2 April 2019
Gfinity plc
("Gfinity" or the "Company")
Formula 1® and Gfinity renew partnership to deliver third Formula 1 New Balance Esports Series
Gfinity (AIM: GFIN), a world-leading esports solutions provider, announces that it has renewed its partnership with Formula 1® for a third F1 New Balance Esports Series. The new season will commence on 8 April 2019. It has been extended to include more adrenaline fuelled racing and prize money has doubled, with the official F1 teams battling it out for $500,000.
Gfinity is responsible for delivering a dedicated account management team; a full league operations turnkey solution that includes writing all tournament rules governing the drivers participation in the Tournament; player and team logistics; marketing and media support; strategy and delivery of all broadcast components of the live events; and the use of the Gfinity Arena for all live broadcasts.
Like the 2018 season, which reached a record audience of 5.5 million viewers across selected TV networks and a dedicated live stream, this season will be split into Qualifying, a Pro Draft and the Pro Series. Each segment of the 2019 Series has been expanded, making this the biggest and most ambitious season yet.
A longer qualifying window will give even more of the world's top drivers and aspiring gamers the chance to compete for a place in the prestigious Pro Draft. All entrants will compete in F1 2018, the official game of the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™, on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X and PC.
The Pro Draft will take place over two days in July and is where the official F1 teams will select the drivers they want to add to their roster to represent them in the Pro Series. A series of high stakes race-offs on day one will identify the best of the best from the drivers that qualified. The slowest drivers will be eliminated, while the fastest will make up the final pool from which the teams will make their picks on day two. Every official F1 team must select at least one of its drivers from the Pro Draft.
The expanded season means that at the Pro Series, the official F1 teams and their drivers will now compete in four live events, compared to just three events last year, between September and December 2019. These races will determine the 2019 F1 New Balance Esports Series Teams' and Drivers' World Champions, with an increased prize fund of $500,000.
Garry Cook, Executive Chairman, Gfinity, said:
"F1 New Balance Esports Series has captured the imagination of the global gaming community. It delivers incredible racing and through entertaining content, like the Pro Draft, gives fans a reason to care about the drivers. Esports fans want the back stories, the drivers' journeys to greatness, the emotion of being chosen to represent an F1 team. And they want to experience daring manoeuvres on the track. F1 New Balance Esports delivers this. That is why a new and younger audience is embracing the F1 story. Series 3 is going to be bigger, bolder and more entertaining than ever.
He added: "Once more this highlights Gfinity's ability to leverage its esports expertise and market leading technology to support prestigious organisations to design, develop and deliver long term compelling global esports solutions."
Enquiries: Gfinity plc |
www.gfinityplc.com |
Garry Cook, Executive Chairman |
Via Walbrook PR |
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Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 |
Jeremy Porter / John Depasquale |
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Shore Capital (Joint Broker) |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090 |
Patrick Castle |
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Walbrook PR (Media & Investor Relations) |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7933 8780 |
Paul Cornelius / Sam Allen |
[email protected] |
About Gfinity
Gfinity (AIM: GFIN) is a world-leading esports solutions provider. Its business to business platform, "Powered by Gfinity", delivers managed services to game publishers, sports rights holders, commercial partners and media companies. Gfinity creates bespoke solutions, including competitions and industry leading content production, connecting our partners with the esports community in authentic and innovative ways. Partnerships include EA SPORTS, F1 Esports Series, Halo World Championship and the Forza Racing Championship.
Gfinity connects directly with competitive gaming consumers through its owned competition platform, the "Gfinity Elite Series". The Series enables competitive gamers to be part of the Gfinity community, testing themselves and developing new skills, while providing a pathway for those who aspire to a career in esports to join a leading professional team. "Gfinity Elite Series" content is distributed through linear and digital channels and is enjoyed by tens of millions of esports fans around the world.
All Gfinity managed service solutions and owned competitions are underpinned by its proprietary technology platform delivering a level playing field for all competitors and supporting scalable multi-format leagues, ladders and knock out competitions.
More information about Gfinity is available at www.gfinityplc.com
About Formula 1®
Formula 1® racing began in 1950 and is the world's most prestigious motor racing competition, as well as the world's most popular annual sporting series. The 2019 FIA Formula One World Championship™ runs from March to December and spans 21 races in 21 countries across five continents. Formula One World Championship Limited is part of Formula 1® and holds the exclusive commercial rights to the FIA Formula One World Championship™. Formula 1® is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LSXMA, LSXMB, LSXMK, BATRA, BATRK, FWONA, FWONK) attributed to the Formula One Group tracking stock. The F1 logo, F1 FORMULA 1 logo, FORMULA 1, F1, FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GRAND PRIX, PADDOCK CLUB and related marks are trademarks of Formula One Licensing BV, a Formula 1 company. All rights reserved.
About esports
Esports (electronic sports) is watching or playing competitive video gaming. Leading titles include League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Defence of the Ancients 2 (DotA 2), Call of Duty and Rocket League. The industry is growing rapidly, with new communities developing around more and more titles. The global esports market generated US$493 million of revenue in 2016 and is expected to make $1.5 billion by 2020. The global esports audience in 2017 was 191 million people, 80% under the age of 35 and 70% male (source: Newzoo). Online streaming channels Twitch and YouTube command the biggest audiences, although esports events are also now being broadcast on conventional TV. The 2015 League of Legends Championships finals in Berlin were watched by 36 million people, with a peak concurrent viewership of 14 million viewers, while at DotA 2's flagship annual championship 'The International 2016' competitors from around the world competed for a prize pot of over $20 million.
