Team YP competes in Evolve. Photo: Team YP

Big headlines were created in June last summer as YouPorn expressed they’d might enter esports.

One and a half years later 30 gamers compete for Team YP and the next step could be entering the biggest game of them all, League of Legends.

– League of Legends has an extremely competitive esports scene and there are lots of talented teams we’d love to work with, Brad Burns, vice president of Team YP, tells Aftonbladet Esport.

YouPorn created waves throughout the esports scene, as they in June last summer expressed interest in recruiting players. Many gamers work at the company, sparking conversations and discussions about creating their own esports devision.

– It started as a simple idea and we decided to test the waters with a short tweet. The overwhelming positive response we received was the only motivation we needed to turn this idea into a reality. Little did we know, this small idea started growing to whole new proportions and Team YP was born, Brad Burns, Vice President of operations for Team YP, tells Aftonbladet Esport.

Since then Team YP have entered several differens games, such as Dota2, Counter-Strike:Global Offensive and Mortal Combat. According to their website a total of 30 gamers compete under the YP banner professionally.

However, they are yet to enter the biggest esport of them all, League of Legends, and Burns says it would be a good game for them.

– Without a doubt. League of Legends has an extremely competitive esports scene and there are lots of talented teams we’d love to work with.

”Meant to be completely safe for work”

A while back, when Aftonbladet Esport wrote about Team YP picking up teams in CS:GO, many responded with criticism: Is it right that a porn site advertises to such a young audience?, many asked.

– We think it’s natural for any of these groups to question the motivations of big companies that want to get involved, Burns says and continues:

– All in all, we haven’t faced that much more scrutiny than any other sponsor and we like to believe this is because all of the steps we’ve taken to separate Team YP from our core business.

Burns says they operate on a completely independent level and their organizations consists of a team solely dedicated to pro gaming.

– Everything from the team name to the Team YP website is meant to be completely safe for work and will always stay that way.

What are Team YP’s goals in esports?

– Supporting the esports industry and helping our players and team grow. We are still a new esports organization and there is a lot of work to be done. We are currently focusing on helping professional gamers climb the esports ladder and we hope the results will speak for themselves. We’re also still recruiting actively and we look forward to working with new talents in the near future.

”We’re keeping our eyes on some newer games”

How are you looking to expand in the future?

– We recently starting working with CS:GO teams, and there are various other games we are not represented in. Without getting too much into details, I’d say we’re keeping our eyes on some newer games as well as different MOBAs.



Are you looking to get involved in any new games?

– I would say the team is extremely excited to see how Overwatch will be doing on the pro gaming scene in the future, we’re all very curious about it. But also, we have Street Fighter 4 players on our Roster, and with Street Fighter 5 being released, you will definitely be seeing us involved closely in that game’s esports scene.

What is it that you look for in a team?

– We are helping players that show promise, in an effort to help them improve their career with us. We look for dedicated, passionate players that also show promise through their results, we want to help bring new talented players to light. Right now, our players are just as dedicated to their game, as they are to us as sponsors, we work together like a well-oiled machine.