The world of Electronic Sports and traditional sports continue to collide with one of the greatest batsman of his era – Sanath Jayasuriya joining Gamer.LK’s Singer Esports Premier League as the mentor for the team Southern Sharks. The Southern Sharks is a franchise Esports team that competes in the annual league. Sri Lanka’s top Esports athletes compete for a prize pool of Rs. 1 million in the mobile game “PUBG Mobile”, which is played by over a million Sri Lankan youth today.
Jayasuriya is the third Cricketing celebrity to have announced their affiliation with Gamer.LK’s league, with the others being Russel Arnold and Chaminda Vaas, mentoring the Northern Rangers and Rajarata Giants teams respectively. The mentors will be inspiring and guiding the Esports athletes who get recruited to the team, and shining a spotlight on the players and the league as a whole.
“Sanath is an international icon, and we’re excited to welcome him onboard our Esports journey. The Esports athletes that will play for the Southern Sharks will gain great insight and exposure thanks to Sanath’s experience and reach.” said Raveen Wijayatilake, CEO of Gamer.LK and the founder President of the Sri Lanka Esports Association.
Esports has been growing at a rapid pace in Sri Lanka over the last decade thanks to Gamer.LK’s consistent efforts in organising tournaments and activities around the sport. There are an estimated 4 million gamers in the country. Esports was recognised by the Sports Ministry of Sri Lanka as the 70th national sport in 2019.
Over 2,000 Esports athletes are expected to compete for a spot in the 12 franchise teams. The event will be held completely online throughout August, September and October of this year. Gamers wanting to take part in qualifiers are able to get more information on the official website at epl.lk.
SINGER comes onboard this year as the Title Sponsor of the Esports Premier League. Sri Lankans have come to know SINGER as the go-to location for durable goods for decades. SINGER now takes a bold step forward in catering to the Sri Lankan gaming population to create, maintain and grow their gaming lifestyle – whether you’re an Esports athlete or a casual gamer.
Moose Clothing Company, a big supporter of Sri Lankan Sports, has stepped up to sponsor the Esports league as the Official Clothing partner. Sprite, the Refreshing partner, has come onboard to keep players chilled while they play. 2 high-end Mobile phones are being given away by Sprite during the event for gamers that take part in the Sprite social campaigns held throughout the event. Samsung is the Official Smartphone partner, as players will be competing on mobile devices. Pizza Hut & Taco Bell are the official Food Partners, providing fast delivery of delicious food straight to players’ homes. Dell Gaming, with their lineup of G5, G7 & G15 gaming laptops, is the Gaming Laptop partner. A brand new Dell G15 gaming laptop will be given away during the event. Daraz, another strong supporter of traditional sports, is the Digital Partner for the league. The banking partner for the event is FriMi.
Gamers interested in taking part can visit https://epl.lk to register for the open qualifiers. Registrations close on 21st August.
