Ohio State vs. Michigan. Oklahoma vs. Texas. Navy vs. Army. These rivalries made famous on football fields and basketball arenas could be heading to the digital realm.
Yahoo Sports has announced that it is partnering with League of Legends developer Riot Games to create a tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) featuring teams from North American colleges. Called University League of Legends Rivalries, the event will take place over five weeks starting on November 5. League of Legends isn’t just one of the most popular esports titles, it’s one of the most successful games ever. The free-to-play title makes tons of money from in-game purchases for new heroes and cosmetics, with SuperData Research estimating that it pulled in more than $1.6 billion in revenue last year.
“This partnership is a result of our focus on bringing premium coverage to the most diehard sources of fandom in all of sports: college rivalries,” Yahoo Esports notes on its website. “University League of Legends is a network of student-run clubs created to support and empower League of Legends communities on college campuses across the U.S. and Canada. Riot’s uLoL team focuses on growing an ecosystem for passionate college players to celebrate and compete with each other. The uLoL Rivalries series will enable players and fans to engage with unique League coverage, media personalities and advertising sponsors, both online and in-person on campus.”
Yahoo Esports is also allowing fans to vote for which college matchups Rivalries will showcase. Details on how to vote are coming in a Twitch stream today at 3 p.m. Pacific.