Ali Sports Launches E-sports Competition, E-sports Open Platform
Ali Sports, 3/31/16
Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group's (NYSE: BABA) sports subsidiary Ali Sports has announced the establishment of an e-sports tournament and an e-sports business division, as well as the launch of an open platform for e-sports.
The first World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) e-sports tournament will be held in April. Players from around the world will compete for USD 5.5 mln in cash prizes in a number of popular e-sports, including action real-time strategy game DOTA 2 and strategy card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. Ali Sports has invested more than RMB 100 mln in the tournament and has already received applications from several countries to host the next WESG.
Ali Sports' e-sports open platform primarily integrates e-commerce, competition hosting, and online marketing. Ali Sports also supports e-sports by partnering with venues to establish Ali Sports-branded e-sports centers.
Keywords: online gaming Alibaba Sports Internet Alibaba Group DOTA 2 Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft BABA e-sports