Gfinity signs commercial agreement with News UK

LONDON (ShareCast) - eSports group Gfinity (LSE: GFIN.L - news) has agreed a two-year commercial partnership with Rupert Murdoch's News UK. The deal will see the video gaming firm, which runs Britain's first eSports-dedicated arena hosting weekly professional competitions of games, enter a partnership with The Sun. The tabloid will become the official partner and title sponsors of the Gfinity UK Championship Series, weekly online tournaments and its "High Performance Programme", which aims to develop eSports players from the UK.

"The backing of such a large organisation is not only great news for us but also a huge boost to the UK's growing eSports sector," said Neville Upton, Gfinity co-founder and chief executive.

The AIM-listed group said the deal will "provide an opportunity to uncover the next generation of eSports stars" and was hopeful it would lead to an increase in audience, adding that readers of The Sun will be offered priority tickets for the events.

"Through our new partnership with Gfinity, we are proud to have become the first newspaper group to break into the expanding eSports market," said Mike Darcey, chief executive of News UK.

Gfinity shares were up 3.38% to 26.36p at 10:17 on Friday.