North American amateur event LCS Scouting Grounds has been rebranded as Honda Scouting Grounds.
Car manufacturer Honda has been investing in esports since 2016, with the biggest feather in its cap being a partnership with Riot Games surrounding North America’s top League of Legends circuit. Three months ago, Honda became the first automotive brand sponsoring both a team and esports league in North America, by becoming the partner of the LCS and a sponsor of Team Liquid.
Honda seems to be doubling down on that investment, Riot reported.Â
“We appreciate Honda’s deep commitment to the LoL community and to empowering players’ dreams of a career in esports,” Riot shared in a statement. “Along with our partner Honda, we have a lot in store for LCS fans, including awarding a Honda MVP, content chronicling competitors’ journeys throughout the event, a revamped and enhanced Draft, and more.”
Honda Scouting Grounds is an event for up-and-coming League players to show their skills and grab the attention of North American teams. The top two teams from the FACEIT Scouting Grounds Circuit finals will be competing, and will be joined by top players in each role from the North American ranked queue.
The tournament begins on November 11, a day after the culmination of the 2019 League of Legends World Championship. Following the conclusion of Honda Scounting Grounds, each of the LCS teams will be able to pick a player they wish to negotiate with. Teams can then trade and sell picks between each other, but no player is obliged to sign with the team that picked them.
In addition to Honda, Mobalytics will be collaborating on the tournament. Mobalytics will be responsible for processing and sharing data, including player profiles with all necessary statistics.
Riot noted that it is working with Honda to improve drafting and MVP announcements for the upcoming LCS season.
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