In the perfect coming together of closely aligned industries, FaZe Clan won a betting site-backed esports event – the Thunderpick World Championship 2023. It’s a tournament that boasts a hefty prize pool worth some $500,000, and what makes that more unique is that it’s raised in bitcoin as opposed to fiat currency. It’s the most visible event of its type that’s fully backed and sponsored by a betting platform, which makes it a standalone event in the esports space.
Thunderpick itself is a top-tier, highly-reviewed betting platform with plenty to offer. There’s a stacked casino and an advanced sportsbook, as well as a fine range of esports betting options. That’s where this crossover takes place, with this cryptocurrency-friendly platform stepping up to very visibly sponsor an impactful Counter-Strike tournament. It sees some of the biggest teams in the industry take to the stage, so it’s prolific for sure.
Crossing Over
There are plenty of examples, historically, of betting platforms sponsoring esports tournaments or teams, but it’s never made glaringly obvious. There’s a debate of morality in the industry as to whether impressionable, traditionally younger esports fans should be exposed to gambling content. Regardless, the Thunderpick World Championship 2023 played out positively, pulling in plenty of viewers and being publicised by some of the biggest names in esports.
By the end of the tournament, it was FaZe Clan that stood victorious, clutching the team’s second Counter-Strike 2 collected since the game launched. By winning the tournament, FaZe Clan secured a whopping prize worth $250,000.
It was a worthy performance, but anyone who knows anything is aware of how incredibly skilled the FaZe Clan competitors are at the moment. In a statement, the Director of Esports at FaZe Clan, Edward Han, said:
‘We are very happy to have played and won in such a fun and exciting event. We want to commemorate all the teams that played as well as the people behind the scenes for making this all possible. We want to thank our fans for continuing to support us and we will continue to put our best foot forward as we play in the CS Asia Championships next.’
Representatives of Thunderpick also had nothing but good things to say, stressing that the way things played out, elements of ‘unpredictability and intrigue’ made things more exciting. As this is an annual event at this point, we certainly can’t expect it to be long until we see FaZe Clan setting its sights on a new target.
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