Jet Skyesports, an esports tournament organizer in South Asia, has unveiled its latest IP – the Skyesports Masters. The company is claiming it to be India’s first-ever franchise-based esports league and also the biggest gaming tournament to date with a prize pool of Rs 2 crore.
The league will feature a total of eight franchise teams comprising prominent national as well as international names in CS:GO, and will happen as an on-ground event (LAN) with a live audience in Mumbai, India.
By leveraging its position in the market to unlock revenue streams for all eight franchised teams in the Skyesports Masters with sponsorships, merchandise sales, and media rights deals, Jet Skyesports aims to act as an enabler for the creation of a sustainable ecosystem for Counter-Strike in the years to come.
Sharing his thoughts on the creation of the Skyesports Masters and its vision, Shiva Nandy, the Founder and CEO of Skyesports, said, “The Skyesports Masters is set to redefine and raise the bar for Esports in India. With our franchised system, we have found eight fantastic partners to be a part of the inaugural season of the league.”
“Our goal for the league is not to just create one of the grandest tournaments for audiences to enjoy but also to build a viable ecosystem for esports organizations while unlocking many revenue streams for them. This is the need of the hour for the Indian esports industry as a lot of organizations are reeling under huge losses and we hope Skysports Masters can be the much-needed game changes for the industry,” he added.
The Skyesports Masters league will kick off with the cafe qualifiers followed by the main event in Mumbai. Here, the eight franchise teams will battle it out in front of a live audience to choose the “Skyesports Masters”.
In order to provide emerging gamers of the country a platform to showcase their talent, Jet Skyesports has tied up with local gaming cafés across 20 different cities such as Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and several others to scout for the best CS:GO players during the qualifiers. The Skyesports Masters will provide franchise teams an option to add the best of the scouted players from the qualifiers to their rosters.
Commenting on the format, Anuj Tandon, CEO of Gaming Division, JetSynthesys, added, “Over the years Skyesports has hosted various tournaments in association with some of the popular games. Counter-Strike has been at the heart of India’s gaming café culture for decades and Skyesports’ association with CSGO will usher in a revival of the game ahead of the release of Counter-Strike 2. It’s a significant milestone for us as we gear up to bring forth Skyesports’ first-ever franchised esports league that will see a lot of talent emerge and contribute to the growth of the Indian esports industry at the grassroots level.”
In spite of being a traditional esports title, CS:GO is still a prominent part of the esports ecosystem with more than 36,00,000 players playing the game in March of this year.
The schedule for the qualifiers, exact venue, and ticketing information will be announced soon on Skyesports’ social media handles and the event will be livestreamed on its YouTube channel.