Xfinity on Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway will bring together the worlds of NASCAR and eSports as the Comcast-owned cable provider looks to marry two spaces it is increasingly investing in. Xfinity sponsors NASCAR's second-highest national series, the ESL and eSports team Evil Geniuses. At the Xfinity Zone at the ISC-owned track, Xfinity will bring out Evil Genius’ Chicago-based Halo group to play an open tournament against fans. The newly released NASCAR video game, “NASCAR Heat Evolution” from Dusenberry-Martin Racing, also will be on display at the event, with several drivers playing it.
Comcast Senior Dir of Sports Brand Marketing Matt Lederer said, “We looked at this opportunity and said, ‘Huh – we can bring through e-sports probably a really unique and different demographic to the world of NASCAR.’ … Secondarily, we’re able to have the NASCAR fans who are in Chicago realize that this world of gaming or eSports is really big, really popular, and top-notch competitors are using the Xfinity internet product to compete.” Lederer said while he wanted to see how the event went, Xfinity would likely be open to doing more at the nexus of eSports and NASCAR moving forward. GMR Marketing is Xfinity’s sports marketing agency and Taylor provides PR support.
