Skillz Partners with Special Olympics Southern California to Host First Live Streamed Mobile eSports Charity Tournament
Skillz, the worldwide leader in mobile eSports, today announced the results of its first live streamed mobile eSports charity tournament. The event took place on March 7 and was broadcast on Twitch by “Doublelift,” a top 10 streamer and professional “League of Legends” player with more than 945,000 followers and 50 million stream views. The tournament drew more than 140,000 views over the course of the stream, with a total of over 7.1 million minutes watched.
All proceeds from the tournament supported Special Olympics Southern California, helping to provide free sports training and competitions to athletes with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics enriches the lives of more than 28,500 athletes through sports, health and leadership programs. This tournament is the first time that the Southern California program has partnered with an eSports company, and represents a new way for the organization to raise funds and reach new audiences.
“We have been witnessing the massive growth of eSports, and saw an immediate connection with our company mission,” said Bill Shumard, President and CEO of Special Olympics Southern California. “Skillz shares our vision of democratizing the sports world, allowing everyone to compete and socialize.”
The tournament was the final broadcast for leading Twitch streamer “Doublelift” before joining Team Liquid to finish out the North American League of Legends Championship Series spring split, and provided viewers one final opportunity to engage with the popular streamer.
“With over 292 billion minutes streamed last year on Twitch, it is clear that eSports are now mainstream broadcast content,” said Andrew Paradise, founder and CEO of Skillz. “While most eSports broadcasts mirror offline sports like football and basketball with top players competing and spectators watching, Skillz is changing the game by letting anyone enter, compete and have their gameplay broadcast.”
With this tournament, Skillz and Special Olympics Southern California delivered the first ever interactive mobile eSports experience to a major broadcasting outlet, allowing spectators to join the tournament at any time. The Skillz title featured during the charity tournament was “Cube Cube,” a matching game developed by Tether Studios. For more information on Skillz-enabled games and implementing mobile eSports competitions, visit www.skillz.com or email [email protected].
About Special Olympics
Special Olympics Southern California enriches the lives of more than 28,505 athletes with intellectual disabilities and their communities through sports, leadership, and health programs. Founded in 1969 by Olympic decathlon gold medalist Rafer Johnson, Special Olympics Southern California provides free sports training and competitions every day and in every community. Through the power of sports training and competition, people with intellectual disabilities become more independent, build self-esteem, and live healthier lives. Special Olympics offers more than sports and is the largest healthcare provider to individuals with intellectual disabilities. The athletes become stars on and off the sports field. They inspire people in their communities and elsewhere to open their hearts to a wider world of human talents and potential. This changes attitudes, changes lives, and creates more accepting and inclusive communities. Special Olympics Southern California has earned a 4-star ranking from Charity Navigator for exceeding industry standards. This ranking is the highest Charity Navigator offers to an organization and is given because Special Olympics has demonstrated strong financial health and a commitment to accountability and transparency. Learn how you can get involved at www.sosc.org.
About Skillz
Skillz is the leading mobile eSports platform, connecting the world’s 2.1 billion mobile gamers through competition. As the eSports provider for over 3,000 game studios, Skillz accounted for more than 30 percent of all eSports prizes awarded in 2016 while broadcasting over 40 million minutes of gameplay to spectators worldwide. Skillz makes games better by powering the competitions that players love and giving developers the chance to turn their game into the next great electronic sport. Founded in 2012, Skillz is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by leading venture capitalists as well as the owners of the New England Patriots, Milwaukee Bucks and New York Mets. To learn more, visit www.skillz.com.
