In an effort to expand to Europe and South America, Major League Gaming has announced that they have struck a partnership with IMG, a global leader in sports, fashion and media. As one of the terms of the partnership, revenue between the two organizations will be split down the middle.
Under the terms of the agreement, IMG, utilizing the expertise of its IMG Media Group, will help build international brand awareness of MLG through distribution, programming and marketing agreements with select broadcast and broadband partners. IMG will work to increase traffic, convert users and drive media consumption across all MLG platforms especially in the gameplay area. The partners will work together to host regional championship events around the globe, identify new talent and expand the brand partnership platform to establish competitive gaming as a preeminent sport worldwide.
“Video gaming is the #1 activity among the 18-24 male demographic and global video game sales exceeded $50 billion in 2009,” said Michel Masquelier, President of IMG Media. “Gaming is truly a global phenomenon and we are very proud to partner with the market leader in the competitive gaming industry to elevate the sport to a new level.”
An expansion by MLG would mean that, for the first time, gaming has a true global league. How the “global factor” will be handled is yet to be known, however.