Mountain Dew Teams Up With ESL To Form New E-Sports League For Amateurs

Mountain Dew yesterday announced the formation of the Mountain Dew League, a three-phase competition for amateur gamers, in conjunction with e-sports company ESL. It will culminate in one amateur team joining next season's ESL Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Pro League. The tournament will start in August, and will unfold over the course of 20 weeks beginning with 7,400 players, down to nine teams in each region, down to the final team. ESL and Twitch will live stream the events (THE DAILY). The DAILY DOT's Samuel Lingle wrote thanks to previous marketing campaigns, the "stereotypical gamer is already a Mountain Dew-guzzling maniac." Yet while Mountain Dew is "indelibly linked to gaming culture and even pro gaming through memes, this is really the company’s first major foray into real esports competition, especially on the PC platform." Mountain Dew Senior Brand Manager Sonika Patel said, "Dew is really focused on providing opportunities for the gaming community. ... We are always keen on being authentic to what’s going to resonate most with the consumer." Patel: "As instigators in this space, we want to push the boundaries of competitive gaming and enable everyone in this community to take part in the experience" (DAILYDOT.com, 7/13). MARKETING DAILY's Aaron Baar noted the PepsiCo brand "has been involved in gaming marketing" since '03. Patel said that Mountain Dew will "support the league with messaging across all channels ... including gaming information platform Twitch, which has also signed on as a partner." The partnership with ESL "is also an important piece" (MEDIAPOST.com, 7/13). ESPN.com's Jacob Wolf noted this will be Mountain Dew's "second foray into esports." The brand's first venture into the industry "was a title sponsorship at the Championship Gaming Series" in '06 (ESPN.com, 7/13).