International betting operator Parimatch strengthened its commitment to esports after it teamed up with ESforce Holding to host the Dota2 Parimatch League Season 1.
The tournament, which had a prize pool of $75,000, attracted over 1,000 spectators to the Yota Arena in Moscow. It marked the first time that a betting operator had organised its own esports competition.
Stepan Shulga, Head of esports at Parimatch commented; “We managed to create a unique Russian-language league for players, which has become an excellent base for rivalry in the CIS region. I hope that our tournament has pleased the esports community and will further develop the Russian-speaking scene of Dota 2.
In the competition’s inaugural season, broadcasts of the tournament have accrued over 6 million views across its Twitch platform, with the average number of viewers for the league reaching 36,000.
The finals of the Parimatch Leagues saw a number of CIS esports teams compete against one another, and included Virtus.Pro, HellRaisers, Team Spirit and jfshfh178 of which Virtus.Pro took the $40,000 winning prize.
Maxim Maslov, Epic Esports Events CEO, added: “We saw a very impressive level of play in the first season. We are sure that the fans were entertained. We want to develop the Dota 2 community throughout the CIS, and League Parimatch helps us a lot in this.
“In addition, we strive to give talented players the opportunity to develop – and we believe in the next season we will see new future stars.”
Parimatch plans to continue to support esports by confirming plans to develop its own esports league, with a prize pool of $100,000.
Shulga continued: “We are excited to announce the second season of Parimatch League, where the best teams from the CIS region will now fight for a $100,000 prize pool. It will be worth following.”
Source: SBC News
