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AirAsia will be the official airline partner for the inaugural ASEAN tournament in it’s World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) series.

As well as brand integration, AirAsia will offer flights for players and cash prizes for the event, which includes participation from 10 countries, and a grand final in Kulala Lumpur in November.

The WESG is run by Alisports, the sports branch of Alibaba Group.

AirAsia continues to soar upwards into the esports market, signing its first major event sponsorship deal. The low-cost airline will be the title sponsor for the first ever ASEAN WESG, through a partnership with Alisports and SEA competition organizer Agri Mind Sdn Bhd.

According to the announcement, AirAsia will transport players across the ASEAN region, and will receive branding through WESG ASEAN digital platforms and tournaments. The airline will also offer ancillary products and services at the event, including an online store and ticketing agent.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]AirAsia will transport players across the ASEAN region, and will receive branding through WESG ASEAN digital platforms.[/perfectpullquote]

“Besides reaching out to a wider demographic across ASEAN, we hope that this initiative will go a long way in propelling ASEAN esports athletes to the next stage and show the world what we have,” AirAsia Group Berhad Executive Chairman and AirAsia X Group CEO Datuk Kamarudin told The Esports Observer. “We believe that with great training and development strategies such as WESG, we can see more players from Asean competing on the world stage in the future.”

After originally launching an esports program for its employees, referred to as “Allstars”, AirAsia entered the esports market by sponsoring Dota 2 organization Team Mineski, and then acquiring Mobile Legends team Team Saiyan. A recent Instagram post from AirAsia chairman Kamarudin Maranun hinted that the airline was looking to develop its own esports team, league, and center, but nothing has yet been announced.

Asked whether AirAsia parent brand Tune Group was planning to build an esports/gaming subsidiary, Kamarudin simply said AirAsia would continue its current exploration of the esports market.

The WESG series was launched in 2016 by Alisports, and is notable in esports for its high prize pool of $5.5M across multiple titles. As an “Olympic-style” tournament, all competing teams must be comprised of players from one nationality. A fitting format, considering Alibaba Group is the official “Cloud Services” and “E-Commerce Platform Services” partner for the Olympics through 2028.

“The goal for WESG was to have true grassroots participation by having open registrations in every country around the world,” says Alisports global esports director, Jason Fung. “This year, we have achieved this goal and citizens of any nation can sign up for WESG qualifiers via both online and offline qualifiers. Our team continues to work hard in identifying the right local partners that can execute world-class events so that we may bring more live competitions to our players and fans.”

The first and second WESG international grand finals were held in China, in the cities of Changzhou and Haikou, respectively. The next edition of the tournament will take place in March 2019.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Alisports has “put business models in place that allows for scalability and profitability in future years.”[/perfectpullquote]

Despite originating out of Asia, Fung says that Alisports has always had an international vision and approach. “In addition to the having more international live events this year, we are working closely with global HQs of game publishers, esports organizations, and broadcasting platforms to bring WESG content to a global audience.”

Related Article: Alibaba Turns to Local Organizers for WESG, Following $22M Costs for Last Event

The first edition of the WESG resulted in a 70% loss in investment for Alisports. In a 2017 interview, Alisports’ CEO Zhang Dazhong indicated the company was prepared for this, saying the company estimated it would be losing money for the next five years of endeavour.

Asked whether the outlook had changed after this year’s tournament, Fung says Alisports has “put business models in place that allows for scalability and profitability in future years. We are definitely seeing more support from endemics, non-endemics, and governments around the world.”

The WESG ASEAN tournament will feature 10 countries across the region, each of which will run their own online qualifier tournaments, followed by national LAN finals from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30. The regional grand finals will be held in November, in Kuala Lumpur.

Alisports China appointed Agri Mind Sdn Bhd to be the sole organizer of the WESG in Southeast Asia. The company’s chairman, Calvin Lau, told The Esports Observer that while English would be the official broadcast language for the WESG, Agri Mind was open to facilitating local languages with regional partners. “Agri Mind has a wide range of connections, internationally and all over Asean—we’re familiar with the local scenes, the locals wants and needs, and we believe that we’ll be able to bring esports to the masses,” he says.

“As they say, ‘No man is an island.’ WESG is such a prominent event in the esports calendar and even with Agri Mind as the sole organizer for Asean, we believe in really going down to the grassroots and having the most engagement possible, which wouldn’t be possible without having local partners.”