December 2 – Holland’s Eredivisie is partnering with esports operator DreamHack Sports Games (DHSG) to create an esports gaming festival that will be hosted Sports in Maastricht.
Called GG22, the organisers say the aim is to make it the largest sports gaming festival in Europe with up to 10,000 visitors.
The festival will host the Dutch league’s own esports finals – the KPN eDivisie finals – as well as featuring live entertainment, an Expo Area, a LAN zone, and multiple areas for console gaming and sports simulators.
There will also be areas for traditional sports and ‘active gaming’, described as physical activities enhanced with technology.
Roger Lodewick, CEO of DreamHack Sports Games, commented: “Sports gaming is becoming increasingly popular. As DreamHack Sports Games is solely focusing on transforming traditional sports [IPs] into esports, creating and organising an esports and gaming festival specifically designed at sport and sports gaming is a natural step for our company.
“We want to bring both the sporting world and the sports gaming world together, cross-pollinating the massive fan base of the traditional sports with the agile and young demographic of sports gamers. Together with our long term partner Eredivisie and the amazingly newly renovated MECC Maastricht, we foresee GG DreamHack Sports to be a benchmark for all sports gaming festivals around the world.”
DHSG also operates eFootball leagues in Sweden (eAllsvenskan) and Norway (eSuperligaen).
The festival marks a move away from traditional gaming events for both the Dutch league and DreamHack, and is targeted at building a deeper relationship with fans as well as bringing a new broader demographic interested in football, esports and physical activity.
Marc Rondagh, Business Development Manager Eredivisie CV, said: “As Eredivisie, we always try to move forward with the KPN eDivisie. We have done this since the start of the KPN eDivisie in 2017, as well when we started our collaboration with DreamHack Sports Games in 2019 and we will do so next summer with a real two-day gaming festival in Maastricht.
“For us, this completes the circle. What started as a promotional tool towards young people for the Eredivisie, has resulted in nothing less than a festival where both worlds will meet each other.”
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