SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Online betting operator Pinnacle has brought Dota 2 into the second edition of its Pinnacle Cup tournament in cooperation with Relog Media.
Launching on 5 May, the tournament will comprise an initial 10-team round-robin stage followed by a best-of-three double elimination bracket, after which two teams will be invited to participate in a playoffs stage, joining the teams which qualified via the initial round-robin.
Concluding with the semi-finals and a best-of-five grand final on 30 May, a total prize pool of £100,000 is on the line – with a winning prize of £50,000 – whilst ‘some of the very best Dota 2 teams’ from across Europe, Russia and the wider CIS region will participate, including Viking.gg, Spirit, Hellbear Smashers and Extremum.
“After a fantastic start to the Pinnacle Cup, we are delighted to carry on this series with Relog Media, expanding further into the esports ecosystem,” said Paris Smith, CEO of Pinnacle.
“The heart of what we do at Pinnacle is engaging with the esports community, and with the introduction of The Pinnacle Cup – Dota we plan to deepen that connection with the wider esports audience.
“There is no better way for us to continue this journey, than branching out into Dota 2, where we can continue offering fans the best connection to their favourite esports teams and players.”
GRID will continue to serve as a partner of both Pinnacle and the tournament, utilising its data input and streaming technology to provide ‘the very best in esports betting and content’ for Dota 2 fans.
The duo will work to offer a ‘comprehensive selection of both pre-game and live betting markets’ including low margin odds to maximise value to customers, whilst also cooperating on the use of streaming service Twitch as a broadcasting platform, with the aim of enhancing fan-facing content and the overall viewing experience.
Milutin Pecic, CEO of Relog Media, added: “As passionate Dota 2 players at Relog Media, it’s an absolute pleasure to dive into the Dota 2 community with Pinnacle alongside us.
“We hope this is just the start of our offerings to the competitive teams across the globe. Pinnacle’s track record and success in Esports so far made it an easy decision for us to go forwards. We also had a ton of fun in the CSGO edition of The Pinnacle Cup. A proud day for us all here at Relog Media.”
The initial Pinnacle Cup tournament took place in March of this year, focusing around Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and including a ‘star-studded lineup’ of teams including HellRaisers, CPH Flames and GamerLegion, whilst online payments platform Trustly joined as an ancillary sponsor.
