BGMI esports seems to be scaling new heights every day with action-packed thriller events featuring huge prize pools and incredible viewership counts. Star Sports recently announced its partnership with NODWIN Gaming to host a massive 1.5 crore INR BGMI LAN event in India. The tournament, called the BGMI Masters Series, will begin on June 24 and run until July 17.
The event will have a total of 24 invited teams that will be divided equally into three groups of eight each. The names of the teams participating are expected to be announced in a few days.
In terms of the prize pool alone, this is the second biggest esports event in India. The biggest tournament, BMPS Season 1, had a massive prize pool of INR 2 crore and concluded on June 12.
When and where to watch BGMI Masters Series
The BGMI Masters will be broadcast exclusively on the Star Sports 2 TV channel from June 24 between 8.30 pm and 11.30 pm (IST) in Hindi, English, and Tamil languages. This will be the first time in BGMI history that fans will be able to watch and enjoy matches on TV.
With regards to the partnership, Akshat Rathee, MD and co-founder of NODWIN Gaming, stated:
“We have been working tirelessly through the pandemic to build the foundation for such a big collaboration. This is a very big step for us in the right direction as we now take esports to the masses. So far, esports has always been associated with live streaming on digital platforms."
Regarding the greater inroads possible by mainstream coverage, he said:
"Through this collaboration with a mainstream sports channel, we hope to break that mould. Satellite television does have its advantages, like its unrivalled reach across every nook and corner of the country, uninterrupted and timely broadcast that is not dependent on internet connectivity and speed, as well as affordability for the masses living in far-out areas. We look forward to spreading the reach of esports, making a connection with the youth across India and bringing esports into the arena of other traditional sports.”
The first BGMI LAN event organized by NODWIN Gaming was the All Stars Invitational in Delhi between 26-28 April, and it had a total prize pool of $65K. TSM won the tournament, taking home $32,674 as their cash prize. Hyderabad Hydras and Revenant claimed the second and third spots, respectively, followed by Team XO.
However, the event did not go quite as well for some of the best teams in the country as they finished in the bottom spots. GodLike Esports' bad run continued in the LAN event, placing in 14th position, while Blind and XSpark finished in 15th and 16th places, respectively. All of these teams will hope for a better performance in the upcoming LAN.
Team Soul was unable to attend the event, citing Goblin's health issues. The team was crowned champions of BMPS Season 1 and will be looking to win two major tournaments in a row.
The format and schedule of the event will be unveiled in the coming days, and fans will soon get to see their favourite teams on the battlefield once again.