Adult entertainment and games are the chocolate and peanut butter of the Internet, and now they’re getting together at long last.
Pornographic-video website YouPorn announced that it has finalized the details of its sponsorship deal with the Spanish e-sports team Play2Win. The terms of the deal have the e-sports club changing its name to “Team YP.” It makes its debut under this new banner Friday at the Gamergy Dota 2 tournament in Madrid. E-sports is starting to generate big bucks largely through a massive online audience that draws millions of viewers for the biggest events.
“We’re so psyched to finally make our official entry into gaming and e-sports,” says Brad Burns, the vice president of YouPorn. “This partnership has been a long time coming, and I believe that with our backing, along with the expertise that each member of Team YP brings to the table on the virtual battlefield, we can succeed in tearing through the competition at this year’s Gamergy event.”
Gamergy brings together a number of teams from around Europe to compete in developer Valve’s popular arena battler.
In addition to Dota 2, the team also competes in Blizzard’s collectible card game Hearthstone and Riot’s Dota 2 competitor, League of Legends. Team YP and YouPorn did not comment on the viewing habits of the team.
E-sports is a growing submarket within the gaming industry, and it has previously attracted major companies and brands that want to reach the young, male audience that gravitates toward these kinds of events.
Gaming companies like hardware manufacturer Razer and headphone company Astro have longed put money into e-sports, but traditional companies like movie studio Relativity have started reaching out to the competitive-gaming scene.
It also makes sense for the teams to welcome any sponsor that wants to spend money on a sponsorship since e-sports leagues are loosely affiliated organizations that often do not provide a base salary or large enough prize pools to support every team participating.