Guild Esports, a U.K-based esports organisation co-owned by David Beckham, has signed a three-year, £3.6m sponsorship deal with a financial-technology company based in Europe. The name of the sponsor is not revealed yet.

As per the deal, the sponsor will pay a guaranteed annual fee of £1.1m in the first year, £1.2m in the second year and £1.3m in the third year, equalling a total of £3.6m guaranteed over the three-year term.

The name of Guild’s new sponsor will be unveiled at a “global event” on November 22.

“We are delighted to announce our first major sponsorship deal which will generate significant revenues for the Company. The rapidly growing mass popularity of esports is attracting considerable interest from advertisers and consumer brands, which has generated a strong pipeline of potential business for Guild,” Carleton Curtis, Executive Chairman of Guild Esports, said.

The deal will enable the sponsor to promote its brand and logo through placement on team jerseys, digital overlays on the live-streams of Guild players, as well as other marketing initiatives.

Guild Esports Plc (Guild), the global esports team organisation headquartered in London, today announces its entry into Valorant, a competitive 5v5 multiplayer tactical first-person shooter, with the signing of a top-flight roster of professional players who will compete in the upcoming First Strike tournament, Riot Games’ debut esports tournament for Valorant.

Guild’s Valorant team has been acquired from the top-ranked Swedish team Bonk, one of Europe’s most successful Valorant teams. The team was carefully chosen following a rigorous selection process and is comprised of five sought-after players: Yacine Laghmari ‘Yacine’, Malkolm Rench ‘bonkar’, Leo Janneson ‘Leo’, William Sundin ‘draken’, and Filip Gauffin ‘Goffe’. The team’s inaugural competition under the Guild banner will take place at the start of First Strike in early November.

The team has already achieved success, finishing in the top two in the recent Ignition Series and Mandatory.gg Cup tournaments and the players are excited to take the next step and emerge as champions under Guild.

Yacine is a top-tier former CS:GO player who has made waves early on in his Valorant career.

bonkar was Sweden’s first professional Valorant player. He is a former Paladins professional player and has won two Paladins World Championships. He is regarded as one of the best players in the game and is known for producing impressive results.

Leo, aged 16 is a talented emerging player known as “The Young Gun”. He has achieved professional success at a young age.

draken is a tier-one former CS:GO professional player and well known star player with a significant following.

Goffe is a former top CS:GO professional player and Valorant amateur who is widely regarded as an industry “one-to-watch” and is now ready to compete at a professional level.

The finalised Valorant roster marks Guild’s first step into hardcore PC-based esports, following its launch into the cross-platform Rocket League and EA Sports FIFA titles earlier this year.

Guild is developing a talent pipeline in the UK based on the traditional academy model which will see the most able players such as Valorant amateurs scouted by Guild’s talent scout network and coached by industry leaders in order to attain the skillset required to win and take their careers to the next level.

Valorant is a fast-growing esports title published by Riot Games, the renowned developer behind League of Legends. Valorant is followed by a large audience with recent tournaments reported to have recorded over one million viewers.

Carleton Curtis, Executive Chairman at Guild, commented: “Joining the Valorant community is a perfect step for Guild and we are delighted to expand into the new exciting and emerging esports space. Valorant is destined to become a major esport with global reach and deep fan bases and it benefits from the prestige of being developed by best-in-class publisher Riot Games. With these signings, Guild has established itself as a multi-disciplinary esports business and we are looking forward to fielding rosters in new games as we continue to scale and invest in our business utilising the war chest we raised in our IPO.

Valorant is an exciting esport and since its launch this year has already made a big impact on the competitive gaming ecosystem, winning over top pros from established games like Overwatch. We have high ambitions for our top-calibre team in the upcoming First Strike tournament. We are proud to welcome the players to our Guild family where we will coach and support them to become world champions.”

Yacine Laghmari ‘Yacine’, Professional Valorant Player at Guild, commented: “Valorant is one of the most dynamic esports out there and being in Guild’s first Valorant roster is an exciting opportunity. I’m looking forward to playing my part in the future of Guild and the team.

Guild is an organisation with big ambition that is on a path to achieve great things and I’m proud to be a part of that. I’ve always been an ambitious player and want to create a legacy that will last.

Our team has already proved itself at a top level and now the goal is to become world champions.”

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has formalised the accreditation of Philippine Electronic Sports Organisation (PESO) as the official National Sports Association (NSA) for esports in the Philippines.

In a certificate issued on 9 October 2020, the POC declared PESO as an associate member of the National Olympic Committee (NOC).

“As such, PESO is the sole recognized National Sports Association and governing body for the sport of ESPORTS in the Philippines,” the certificate reads.

PESO’s member-organisations include Bren Esports, Gariath Concepts, Mineski Philippines, The Nationals, PlayBook Esports, Tier One Entertainment, TV5 and TNC Holdings.

“We are honored and grateful for the trust that the POC placed in us. We embrace this huge responsibility as we continue to support our athletes and push the growth and development of Esports in the country,” Brian Lim, President of PESO, said.

“We also echo POC’s call for unity among esports groups and communities as we all share the same goal to showcase the skills and abilities of Filipino gamers in the world arena and ultimately bring glory to our country,” he added.