For the last few years, the Houston Rockets and Shanghai Sharks of the China Basketball Association have played one another in an exhibition game. Now, that partnership is extending into the esports sector.
The Shanghai Sharks are owned by Chinese video sharing company Bilibili, which extended its partnership with the Houston Rockets in a deal announced last week. As part of the agreement, Bilibili Gaming became the official esports partner of the Rockets esports team, Clutch Gaming. The two teams faced off in their first League of Legends friendly match on Oct. 9, garnering nearly 900,000 viewers worldwide according to ESPN.
“The annual friendly games between the Shanghai Bilibili Sharks and the Houston Rockets have already become an established tradition over many years,” Shengyan Zhang, senior director of Bilibili, said in an official press release. “Consequently, we are now extending the friendly relations to the eSports sector to promote our cooperation and integration of the two sports fields.”
The two teams plan to have annual exhibitions and Clutch Gaming will broadcast its gameplay videos on the Bilibili website as part of the new deal. Clutch Gaming belongs to the North American League of Legends division, while Bilibili Gaming belongs to the Tencent League of Legends Pro League. Intercontinental competition between League of Legends teams has historically been limited to major events such as the Mid-Season Invitational and the World Championship
“We’re excited to have had the opportunity to host the first ever International friendly between the NA LCS and LPL,” said Sebastian Park, the Houston Rockets’ vice president of esports, according to ESPN. “To have hundreds of thousands of people watching our guys go out there and pull out a Clutch victory against BLG was insane to watch, especially as the audience went crazy in-studio.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Forever linked to China through the career of Yao Ming, the Rockets continue to be at the forefront of partnerships with Chinese businesses. Last month, the Rockets signed a deal with Chinese cryptocurrency firm AntPool. There is clearly a wide audience for esports, including exhibition events, as demonstrated by the 891,000 fans that watched the inaugural friendly match. As esports continues to grow, professional teams and leagues may emulate the Rockets and shift their existing partnerships into the esports arena.