Vodafone has announced a new deal with ESL which will see them sponsor events across Italy. Kicking off with Milan Games Week and then moving on to Lucca Comics & Games with plans for more tournaments in ten more Italian cities.

The partnership will see the ESL Arena powered by Vodafone at Milan Games Week (5th – 7th October). Which will see some of Rainbow Six Siege’s top teams battle it out for a share of 10,000 EUR (£9000). The pair will then move quickly on to Lucca Comics & Games (October 31st – November 4th), which will host both tournaments in Clash Royale and Quake Champions. In which both professional and non-professional players will be invited to compete.

As title sponsors of the newly dubbed ESL Vodafone Championship, the brand will reside over four game titles – League of Legends, CS:GO, Rainbow Six Seige and Clash Royale. The finals will take place in both winter and summer editions of the tournament which boast a 60,000 EUR (£50,000) prize pool. The partnership will look to utilize Vodafone’s network which boasts the strongest 4G and cable network in the country and able to serve 98.1% of the population.

This isn’t the first time we have seen the Telecoms giant target the industry. In April they worked with ESL to sponsor the Intel Extreme Masters, ESL One and ESL Pro League tournaments. Alongside this, Vodafone has a longstanding partnership with Spanish esports organization Vodafone Giants.

Esports Insider says: Expansion of esports sponsorship by such a large and well-regarded brand speaks volumes of the opportunity present in the industry. With more brands such as key competitors Movistar (Telefónica) following the same path, it shows brands are beginning to successfully transition into the market.

Sign up to our newsletter!