The 2019 eMLS competitive season starts on January 22
MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact announced on Sunday that BMO, its jersey presenting partner, will also be the main partner of the club’s eSports initiative, which kicks off its second year. The 2019 competitive season is set to start on Tuesday, January 22, in Los Angeles.
“We are proud that our presenting partner has decided to also associate itself with our eSports platform, which is in full growth,” said Impact partnership director Rino Folino. “We aim to bring this platform to the next level, and the confidence BMO shows towards our eSports initiative demonstrates we are on the right path.”
“We are proud of our partnership with the Montreal Impact and we are happy to support its initiatives, like the eSports platform, a new trend that is growing in popularity within the new generation,” underlined Claude Gagnon, president, Operations, BMO Financial Group, Quebec.
In its first year, the Montreal Impact eSports team exceeded expectations. On the competitive side of things, eSports player LyesMTL made it to the eMLS Cup final and qualified for the Global Series Playoffs, the last step before the FIFA eWorld Cup, along with the other 127 top players on the planet; on the business side of things, the eSports kiosk in the BMO Celebration Zone at Stade Saputo was among the most popular and most visited on match days, while digital content relating to this platform also attracted a lot of attention on the club’s online media.
The Montreal Impact and LyesMTL will be in Los Angeles for the eMLS League Series One, the first of three eMLS tournaments this year, which will peak with the second edition of the eMLS Cup, in March, at video game convention PAX East, in Boston. The upcoming tournament, as well as the second one taking place in Dallas in February, will serve to create a regular season table for eMLS Cup, while the winner of each tournament will take home prize money and FIFA 19 Skill Points. Supporters can also follow LyesMTL every weekend on Twitch, where the Bleu-blanc-noir’s eSports player plays his FIFA 19 FUT Champions Weekend League games.
