• by Aaron Baar , July 13, 2016

Mountain Dew, a brand long associated with gamers and gaming, wants to to more than just get in the game. They want to create their own e-sports league. 

The PepsiCo brand, which has been involved in gaming marketing since 2003, has set up the Mountain Dew League (MDL) in partnership with e-sports company ESL. The new league, which will start in August, is intended to help amateur gamers become professionals through a season-long competition with the opportunity for a spot in next season’s Counter Strike: Global Offensive Pro League.

“With eSports quickly becoming an integral part of gaming culture, we wanted to have an impact on how amateur gamers can take their talents to a professional level,” Sonika Patel, senior brand manager for Mountain Dew, tells Marketing Daily. “There is a lot of potential among amateurs and in true Dew fashion, we hope to give emerging gamers the unique opportunity to enter the professional world of gaming.”

The MDL will unroll in three different phases. The first will begin with qualifying tournaments (and a last-chance qualifier in late August) to enter the MDL. Next will be an 8-week season, in which 24 teams will compete for a spot in the finals. In December, the top eight teams in each region will compete in the Mountain Dew Championship; the North American and European winning teams will earn a spot in the pro league. 

Throughout the tournament Mountain Dew will provide the competing teams with tools and training (including pro tips and tutorials). Fans, meanwhile, will be able to watch live-streamed events, and have access to behind-the-scenes action and live stat tracking. 

“[We are] not only providing a guaranteed spot into the pros, but actively helping players grow as e-athletes with coaching, top gear and access to events and influential personalities they wouldn’t otherwise have,” Patel says. 

The brand will support the league with messaging across all channels, Patel says, including gaming information platform Twitch, which has also signed on as a partner. The partnership with ESL is also an important piece, she says.

“For us it was also very important to align closely with ESL and its community, creating a program that feels authentic to the platform and its audience,” Patel says. “In keeping with this, all MDL content will live first and foremost on ESL channels.  The hope is this becomes an integral part of the ESL ecosystem.”