ESL Collegiate Fall Invitational Welcomes First Official Sponsor and Return of the BIG EAST Conference
ESL, the world’s largest esports company, today announced a partnership with Grubhub, the nation’s leading online and mobile food delivery marketplace, for ESL Collegiate to enhance collegiate esports player and fan experiences. This marks the first official partner for the ESL Collegiate platform. The BIG EAST Conference will also return for the ESL Collegiate Fall Invitational, with new collegiate conferences to be announced in the coming days.
“By integrating Grubhub, a fan-favorite among college students, as ESL Collegiate’s first official food delivery partner, we will provide on-demand food delivery options for both our collegiate players and fans,” said Kevin Rosenblatt, VP of Product and Content at ESL. “We’re hungry to find new ways to engage esports athletes on college campuses, and Grubhub is the perfect partner to help us create those unique experiences.”
Marking ESL Collegiate’s first-ever official partnership, Grubhub will serve as the official food delivery partner of ESL Collegiate for competing conferences. As part of this partnership, fans can vote each week on which food the analysts and shoutcasters eat during the event in a segment called “Cast & Chat Chowdown.” Students in participating college conferences will also get access to exclusive discounts on their first Grubhub order, which can be claimed at https://grhb.me/eslcollegiate.
“Esports has become an incredibly exciting industry that’s seen extraordinary growth, and it ties in naturally with what we do,“ said Jessica Burns, VP of Brand Marketing & Creative at Grubhub. “With our integration into the ESL Collegiate Fall Invitational, we’re able to tap into a core audience across college students and gamers, giving them the food they crave to get through the competition.”
Several collegiate conferences will participate in the ESL Collegiate Fall Invitational from November 2 through December 8. Participating teams will go head-to-head against rival schools within their conference in a League of Legends competition. While weekly matches will take place offline, the playoffs and subsequent finals will be live streamed on Twitch and YouTube so that fans across the country can tune in to cheer on their schools. Together, the conferences, and ESL will provide an opportunity to engage student esports communities on each participating campus.
ESL Collegiate will continue its partnership with the BIG EAST Conference for the upcoming fall season. From the conference, Butler University, DePaul University, Marquette University, Providence College, St. John’s University, Seton Hall University, and Villanova University will compete in League of Legends from November 2 to November 24. The streaming schedule for the BIG EAST competition will be available at www.bigeast.com/esports.
“The BIG EAST Conference is excited to continue our relationship with ESL Collegiate to provide esports competition opportunities for students on each campus,” said Chris Schneider, Senior Associate Commissioner for Sports Administration and Championships at the BIG EAST Conference. “We have seen steady growth in our esports programs over the last few years and we look forward to more growth in the future.”
Additional details will be announced on ESL Collegiate’s Twitter over the coming days.