Esports and online gambling operator Esports Entertainment Group and its EEG Labs brand have renewed their partnership with Take-Two’s NBA 2K League, the business announced on Wednesday. According to a press statement on the matter, work is already in progress “on the current season’s Combine and Draft,” two events focused on emerging NBA 2K esports players.
EEG has partnered with the NBA since the inception of the league. According to the company, it will now continue to provide the 2K League with state-of-the-art talent analytics and scouting technologies “to determine the best of the best” for one of the world’s most preeminent professional esports leagues.
“We are extremely excited to continue our relationship with the NBA 2K League. EEG Labs has continued to put together a product that is best-in-class,” said Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group. “The NBA 2K League is widely recognized as one of the most competitive leagues across the country and we look forward to another successful year in our partnership.”
— Esports Entertainment Group (@EsportsEntGroup) January 5, 2022
By the end of 2021, EEG Labs, the analytics subdivision of the group, innovated their technology with new audio analysis tools, which allow tracking the communications between players in-game to add new layers of nuance to rankings and metrics.
“No other company provides such a complete description of player skill and talent,” said Brad Ross, Director of League Operations at the NBA 2K League. “We are thrilled to continue to partner with Esports Entertainment Group and EEG Labs to bring the greatest players of our game into the NBA 2K League.”
The partnership between EEG and the NBA 2K League was first launched with the event’s inaugural season, which took place in 2017. EEG Labs has worked with the league to scout talent in the game by analyzing the skills and talents of players since then.
During the last year, the esports company announced a series of high-profile partnerships, including a deal with Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City for the first sanctioned esports skill-based wagering event in the United States.
To be held in New Jersey later this month, on January 22 and 23, the tournament will launch LANDuel and is expected to be the springboard for more esports betting events and permanent installations in the future at the casino and hotel venue.
The launch will include a two-day 256-player in-person tournament, set to become the first skill-based gaming event approved by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. Participants will be permitted to wager on themselves in each round of the event by checking in and creating a LANDuel account.
“As for gambling on esports, we believe that 10-15 years from now the esports betting market will become as large as gambling on traditional sports,” EEG CEO Grant Johnson told Yogonet in an exclusive interview last year. “The growth in the gaming and esports market has been massive and we will continue to see this.”
