ESPN — ESL and DreamHack, two of the biggest event organizers in esports, announced Wednesday that they will merge after a five-year period that saw the two companies share ownership in Modern Times Group but operate independently. The new company will be known as ESL Gaming, with Modern Times Group as its majority shareholder.

DreamHack will continue to be the name of the festival series that spans across Europe and North America, but will be operated now by the joint leadership group. That leadership group will be led by ESL co-CEOs Ralf Reichert and Craig Levine, with DreamHack CEO Marcus Lindmark staying on to operate the large-scale festivals he has been the top executive for since October 2014. [MORE]

ESPORTS INSIDER — MTG-owned tournament organisers DreamHack and ESL have merged organisations under one corporation.

While operations for both companies will now operate under ESL Gaming, DreamHack and ESL will remain as independent brands.

The new company structure is effective immediately, with Craig Levine and Ralf Reichert leading ESL Gaming as Co-CEOs. The merger is said to allow DreamHack and ESL to “push forward new innovations to serve fans and communities” in “every region around the world.” [MORE}

THE ESPORTS OBSERVER — Global tournament organizers ESL and DreamHack will merge their operations into a single entity under the name ESL Gaming. The new structure will be led by Co-CEOs Craig Levine and Ralf Reichert. DreamHack President and CEO Marcus Lindmark will take the role of president, DreamHack SVP, project and event operations.

While the companies and their leadership structures have merged, the brands will continue to operate as they have – DreamHack festivals will remain under the DreamHack name, as will ESL competitions. [MORE]

ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE, “It’s Complicated” — State and local officials who had been urging people to complete the census, have gotten a reprieve. A federal judge ruled late Sept. 24 that the count could continue through the end of October instead of wrapping up Sept. 30.

The one-month extension will provide a little breathing room, but does not wholly eliminate the urgency. Among other things, data the bureau collects in Georgia will help determine how much money the federal government allocates to projects in the Peach State during the next 10 years. [MORE]

CBS-46 ATLANTA — Efforts to register voters got a big push as volunteers flooded metro Atlanta for National Voter Registration Day.

"What we want you to do is tell five people to come register to vote,” said volunteer Michael Pennyman, he was one dozens, working to register voters.

“I go out to the people and explain what we’re really doing and what voter registration is all about,” added Pennyman.[MORE]

ESPORTS INSIDER — San Francisco-based Golden Guardians, an affiliate team of the Golden State Warriors, has announced its partnership with Softgiving.

To celebrate the launch of the partnership, Golden Guardians will host a charity stream on September 12th for Make-A-Wish Greater Los Angeles.

Throughout the course of the partnership, Golden Guardians and Softgiving will host several charity stream events and raise money for a variety of charities during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and National Video Games Week. [MORE]

REUTERS — DreamHack postponed the remaining 2020 live events until next year due to ongoing concerns surrounding the coronavirus, the tournament organizer announced Monday.

“The goal for all of us at DreamHack is to provide great experiences at our events, which thrive by bringing communities together for these shared and beloved festival weekends all around the globe,” DreamHack co-CEO Marcus Lindmark said. “We have never had to postpone events like this before -- but these are extraordinary times, and the safety of our attendees and staff has never been more important than now.” [MORE]

FORBES — Virtual concerts are finally getting more interactive.

Four months into the pivot to the lion’s share of live music being delivered largely via live streams, a host of shows, charity events and even festivals are cropping up in with varying levels of interaction that herald deeper engagement for both fans and brands.

The evolution is both promising and necessary. While a virtual show will never replace the communal sway and sweat of an in-venue experience, fans fatigued by mediocre one-way music delivery need more immersion, and artists need ways to earn more money for themselves and the causes they support.

… The weekend also saw some success stories. Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa staged two benefit shows—a July 9 concert that launched new experiential platform Genius Live and a July 11 show in conjunction with esports team the Pittsburgh Knights (he’s a longtime strategic partner) staged on the Knights YouTube channel and Twitch. [MORE]

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION — Wiz Khalifa is teaming with the Pittsburgh Knights esports team and the Atlanta-based charity fundraising platform Softgiving for a livestream July 11.

The “Wiz and Friends Charity Livestream” will benefit Rise Above the Disorder, which provides mental health services to people of color. [MORE]

OZ MAGAZINE — The Georgia-based production GAMEMASTER, an esports reality show, recently announced a partnership with MakerForce in order to intensify its strides in the fight against coronavirus. The initiative will allow GAMEMASTER and MakerForce, a grassroots emergency response organization, to give PPE supplies to a broader swath of medical providers.

The new esports show was set to begin production this spring. The show is produced by Georgia-based Peach Maria Productions and sponsored by AMD.

[MORE]

THE ESPORTS OBSERVER — Global gaming festival operator DreamHack has announced its foray into content creation with a lineup of six original programs. Over the next several days, new shows with a variety of formats will debut online through DreamHack channels with many featuring DreamHack staff and personalities as hosts.

DreamHack global creative director Justin Burnham told The Esports Observer that his aim with this move is in part to “tell a story in between events,” making DreamHack a year-round brand in the minds of its fans rather than a strictly event-based company. He wanted to find a way to “not be like every other event: sell tickets, and then kick [fans] out the door and say goodbye.”

[MORE]

ESPN — Dreamhack announced Monday that it is bringing back its Fortnite tournament starting July 17.

The fully online event will be broadcast on Twitch and boast a monthly $250,000 prize pool until January 2021. Players in Europe, North America East and North America West will be eligible to play, with the prize pool split between those regions. The regional tournaments will be separate; however, players are allowed to compete in multiple regions … [MORE]