Riot Games has announced a partnership with Bayes Esports Solutions which includes the acquisition of exclusive worldwide data distribution rights for League of Legends esports.
To start, live data from three regional leagues LCK (Korea), LEC (Europe), and LCS (North America), as well as the League of Legends World Championship and Mid-Season Invitational will be included in the deal. Expansion to further regional leagues is also confirmed to be on the table.
Bayes Esports Solutions was first established in January as a joint venture between Sportradar and DOJO Madness. The Belin-based organisation was created to utilise the media rights acquisition and sports data expertise from Sportradar and technical expertise in the world of esports from DOJO Madness.
“Sportradar sets the standard in the sports data industry and is an expert in providing crucial services to its customers and federation partners,” said, Martin Dachselt, Managing Director at Bayes Esports Solutions “Working together with Sportradar, Bayes aims to help League of Legends esports strengthen its ecosystem by creating additional value that will contribute to the sport’s sustainability.”
The deal will allow esports broadcasters and general media to share pre-match, real-time, and post-match insights about the competitions they’re covering. Bayes has also been confirmed to receive productisation rights, which will allow additional fan engagement products such as gamified widgets and match trackers.
“Riot Games aims to bolster our community engagement and continue to grow the sport,” added, Doug Watson, Head of Esports Insights at Riot Games. “We have the most engaged audience in the entire global esports ecosystem, and we want to continue to provide them with new and evolving ways to interact with our game.”
Sportradar holds a separate integrity services partnership with Riot Games which was announced last week. The deal sees Sportradar Integrity Services monitor the global betting activity taking place within League of Legends esports competitions and report any potential integrity issues to the company.
Esports Insider says: Riot Games have clearly understood the demand and value of data surrounding League of Legends esports. With esports attracting increased attention from the mainstream media, being able to provide key data will no doubt add distinction and generate new revenue streams for the esport.
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