BCaster Oy

HELSINKI and NEW YORK – BCaster, developer of an innovative platform for real-time sharing and delivery of photos and videos, and ESPAT Media, a leading provider of creative production services for the esports industry, today announced that they have developed a partnership to serve the growing audience of brands seeking exposure through the esports tournament world. BCaster will provide custom integration of its real-time platform for contextual content delivery for ESPAT’s clients, to enable enhanced curation of user-generated content (UGC) during esports tournaments. ESPAT’s real-time event content service for photo and video delivery is syndicated globally within major media outlets.

ESPAT, which is building an end-to-end content production and licensing business for esports content, launched in July, 2018 at the inaugural Overwatch League Grand Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. ESPAT has also covered such leading esports events as the Call of Duty World League Championship; FACEIT Major; TwitchCon, and the League of Legends World Championship. BCaster launched in 2016 and has developed custom services for brands including World Wildlife Fund, Sideways music festival and Jokerit, the leading professional ice hockey team in the Nordics.

“The growth of esports, globally, has produced a massive pent-up demand for content that addresses both the videogame audience and the corporate sponsorship audience,” said Dante Simpson, chief marketing officer of ESPAT. “We are capitalizing on the tremendous need for content production and curation during esports events, and our partnership with BCaster elevates our overall offering for the premier producers and sponsors of esports tournaments.”

“We view esports as the ultimate mobile UGC forum, and ESPAT is an ideal partner for us in this rapidly growing phenomenon,” said Janne Neuvonen, CEO and co-founder of BCaster. “As brands and media become more aware of the power of the esports audience, BCaster and ESPAT will be able to expertly support the digital ecosystem that serves this exciting community.”

With BCaster, the esports content world can be captured and distributed dynamically, on a global level, as league rights holders manage their own data, while enabling fans to share their content through their social feeds. Rights holders can produce and curate UGC content that is relevant, contextual, and real-time, and activate a powerful means of monetizing UGC, both in-venue (even geo-fenced) or globally. Using a sophisticated array of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, BCaster can help customers in the sports industry identify trends and sentiments; develop geolocation-based features; provide ‘fan producer’ features, and craft brand-specific content directions.

“The value of esports content is growing rapidly, and we wanted to create a service that would harness the power of this emerging segment with editorial services that matched the speed and dynamism of the events themselves,” said Ed Brooks, CEO and co-founder of ESPAT. “The BCaster team aligns solidly with our vision for esports content delivery, and we look forward to bringing this solution to our clients.”