Dell and Intel have announced multi-year partnerships with NBA 2K League, the new esports league of the National Basketball Association, that make Dell’s Alienware gaming PCs powered by Intel processors the exclusively-used hardware for league tournaments.
As part of the deal with NBA 2k, the first official esports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league, Dell and Alienware hardware will be used during live studio productions of league competitions.
The partnership expands on the already robust presence both Dell and Intel have in esports, as each have provided equipment for esports and sponsored tournaments for roughly a decade.
Among their more recent announcements, Dell in March announced the opening of a new state-of-the-art 8,000-square-foot Alienware training facility for Team Liquid, an esports team partially owned by Golden State Warriors Peter Gruber and Washington Capitals, Mystics and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis. It also recently inked a deal with the Miami HEAT basketball franchise to provide Alienware technology for its Misfits Gaming esports organization. Intel invested in the inaugural Overwatch League and brought esports to the Olympics for the first time this year with a pre-Winter Games tournament in PyeongChang.
In a statement, NBA 2K League Managing Director Brendan Donohue said Dell was selected to be the league’s exclusive hardware provider because he views Alienware as a superior hardware brand.
“We want all NBA 2K League competitions to be played on the best platform,” he said. “Dell accomplishes that by providing the fastest possible gameplay for our talented players and delivering a second-to-none viewing experience for our passionate fans.”
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Earlier this week, Dell announced its most powerful Alienware PCs to date — the 15 and 17 boost performance with 8th Gen Intel Core CPUs. Dell says the PCs extract maximum performance from Intel’s processors and use improved cooling technology to run more efficiently and enhance performance.
“We are ambassadors to the PC gaming world,” Frank Azor, vice president and general manager of Alienware and Dell Gaming, said in a statement. “We’re enabling gamers of all levels to game at their best.”
The NBA 2K League will host its official draft in The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City on April 4 ahead of the season debut on May 17. The first-ever NBA 2K League Draft Clash, an Alienware-sponsored exhibition tournament featuring 10 of the top draft picks, will take place on April 6 and will be streamed on Twitch and the NBA 2K League stream.