Comcast Spectacor joins forces with SK Telecom

The American sports and entertainment brand, Comcast Spectacor, are set to announce a brand new join venture with the famous South Korean esports team, SK Telecom. The move will be officially unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, and it will increase the heat in the fiercely competitive esports domain.

The venture will see the formation of a new entity called T1 Entertainment and Sports. This will include the iconic SK Telecom T1 League of Legends team who will now be known simply as T1. In addition to this, the project will also field teams for top esports like Super Smash Bros, Fortnite, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds and Hearthstone, which will join the venture’s previous signings for the Apex Legends game.

Whilst Comcast Spectacor has previously found success with their Philadelphia Fusion and Fusion University Overwatch teams, these sides won’t be part of the new arrangement. But it will give SK Telecom a massive boost in their bid to become the world’s most successful esports organization.

The South Korean team have already broken many records including the highest amount of League of Legends World Championship wins. But the team have been looking to expand their operations outside of South Korea, and the venture is sure to give a much greater platform to star players like the mid-laner Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok.

There’s no doubting SK Telecom’s gaming heritage, and the move marks a coup for Comcast Spectacor. Whilst the exact financial details of the deal are yet to be revealed, the plans have been underway since 2018 and the venture has the potential to attract plenty of high-profile sponsors. Under the new deal, SK Telecom would keep their existing partnerships with brands like Twitch, Razer and Asus Republic of Gamers.

The partnership is all part of Comcast Spectacor’s plans to become a sports and entertainment giant. Whilst South Korea has historically been the home of esports, relatively few brands from the West have managed to successfully penetrate the potentially lucrative market. But recently we have seen the likes of Gen.G signing the 2017 LoL Worlds champions, Samsung Galaxy, and so the timing is perfect for Comcast Spectacor to enter the fray.

The new project will be a true multinational venture as it will operate out of South Korea, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. It’s interesting to see how the venture is focusing on some of the most exciting new esports around with wise decisions to field teams in the likes of Overwatch, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite.

Current viewing figures are undoubtedly behind the plans to focus on the likes of Super Smash Bros Ultimate rather than Melee. But it’s the project’s bid to conquer the relatively new Apex Legends competitive gaming scene that could be most interesting. As battle royale title clocked up 25 million players within one week of launching, the pressure will be on to crack this fledgling market. And with the T1 Entertainment and Sports poised to dominate this title, it looks like it’s going to provide plenty of fireworks.