FACEIT has tapped Curaçao-based sports betting provider Pinnacle as the official betting partner for Seasons 7 and 8 of the Esports Championship Series (ECS).

The Challenger Cup has been renamed the ECS Pinnacle Cup as a result of the deal. The competition will take place over March 5-7th, deciding the seeding for open slots in ECS Season 7.

Michele Attisani, Co-Founder & CBO of FACEIT discussed the deal in a statement: “We’re excited to have Pinnacle onboard. We’re always looking for like-minded partners who are experienced in and passionate about esports, and their ongoing commitment to the ecosystem makes them the perfect partner for the new and improved ECS.

“ECS is the leading independent CS:GO league and we always want to work with global industry leaders such as Pinnacle to continue offering our fans the best possible experience.”

Sixteen teams have been invited to take part in the ECS Pinnacle Cup. The eight European sides are Team Vitality, Team Spirit, AVANGAR, Winstrike, Valiance, Windigo, ENCE, and forZe. North American rosters that will compete in the event include FURIA, Singularity, Denial, INTZ, Team One, Bad News Bears, Old Guys Club, and Final Feature.

Marco Blume, Trading Director at Pinnacle also commented: “This partnership marks another major landmark in the development of esports at Pinnacle. We’ve been doing everything we can to help the esports industry grow over the last few years and working with an organisation like FACEIT will certainly help us achieve that.

“There are plenty of esports fans at Pinnacle and we’ve been very impressed with the work FACEIT have been doing. When this opportunity presented itself, we knew it was something we were never going to pass up.”

The regular season of ECS Season 7 commences on March 11th, comprising of five eight-team single-elimination tournaments each week. $25,000 (£18,960.88) is up for grabs in each region.

Pinnacle’s most recent move in esports came in the form of a partnership with data provider GameScorekeeper in February. The deal is said to have “significantly accelerated its position as the leading esports bookmaker.”

Esports Insider says: Now’s a great time for a CS:GO announcement with the Major in Katowice wrapping up only yesterday. Pinnacle has slowly but surely been building up its presence in esports over the last few months and evidently it’s not stopping just yet.

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