Learfield IMG College, Psyonix Announce Relationship To Add "Rocket League" Within Level Next, The College Esports League

PLANO, Texas, May 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Learfield IMG College announced today the addition of "Rocket League" as a featured game title for its esports events and league through a direct agreement with Psyonix.

Notably, Rocket League will be the centerpiece for Learfield IMG College's upcoming nationwide Level Next Rocket League Spring Showcase, which opens up for student registration today. Large-scale events, like the Spring Showcase, also will be complemented by year-round content creation and school-specific tournaments.

In addition to featuring Rocket League, Learfield IMG College introduces Unilever as a cornerstone Level Next sponsor with significant engagement this spring. Free and open to all college students attending a four-year accredited university, the Level Next Rocket League Spring Showcase will begin on May 10, with registration starting today. The four-week competition – with an estimated 1,500 college students expected to participate – provides a unique avenue for Unilever to leverage its United for America program and help create awareness for the pervasive issue of food insecurity on U.S. college campuses. As a Level Next Rocket League Spring Showcase cornerstone sponsor, Unilever will donate one million meals to Feeding America to create awareness for food insecurity on campuses and to promote its National Day of Service on May 14.

"We're thrilled to be working with Psyonix to incorporate such a popular, endemic game title like Rocket League into our Level Next events and broadcasts," said Learfield IMG College EVP/Managing Director – Media and Partnerships Group Rick Barakat. "We have an exciting Spring Showcase planned for college students across the country, and we appreciate the support of Unilever as this is an exceptional platform to elevate their important give-back initiatives on college campuses nationwide."

College students can register online now for the Level Next Rocket League Spring Showcase via LevelNextEsports.com. With a $125,000 total cash prize pool, participants will compete for a share of the $75,000 competition prize pool. The other $50,000 will be awarded to 20 college esports programs through a Twitter competition. In its second season, Level Next's Twitter Competition encourages schools to post and promote the tournament on their respective social channels using the #LevelNextShowcase hashtag. The fall competition reached more than 2.1 million people as the University of South Dakota's esports program, USD Esports, won the $15,000 first place prize. College esports programs can sign up to participate at levelnextesports.com/twittercompetition.

Esports fans can expect game streams to include red zone-style whip around coverage and top shoutcasters, player bios, stories, and highlights, along with the radio voices of major universities and Rocket League influencers and celebrities. More than 40 hours of gameplay for the Spring Showcase will stream live on Level Next's official Twitch channel – twitch.tv/levelnextgg.

Level Next, which launched in October 2020 with publisher Electronic Arts (EA), is the largest intercollegiate esports league. It is also the first league to be supported by official school branding and athletics marketing assets. The Level Next spring series programming will be streamed on its official Twitch channel. For more information on official rules and registration details for the Level Next Rocket League Spring Showcase, visit LevelNextEsports.com.

About Rocket League
Winner or nominee of more than 150 "Game of the Year" awards, Rocket League is one of the most critically-acclaimed sports games of our generation. Rocket League is a high-powered hybrid of arcade-style soccer and vehicular mayhem with easy-to-understand controls and fluid, physics-driven competition. Available on Nintendo Switch™, PlayStation^®4, PlayStation^®5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on Epic Games Store, Rocket League includes nearly endless customization possibilities, a fully-featured offline season mode, multiple game types, casual and competitive online matches, and special "Mutators" that let you change the rules entirely.

To learn more about Rocket League, please visit www.RocketLeague.com, "Like" it on Facebook, and follow it on Twitter @RocketLeague for all the latest developer updates and news.

About Learfield IMG College
Learfield IMG College is the leading media and technology services company in intercollegiate athletics. The company unlocks the value of college sports for brands and fans through an omnichannel platform with innovative content and commerce solutions for fan engagement. The Learfield IMG College suite of services includes licensing and multimedia sponsorship management; publishing, audio, digital and social media; data analytics; ticketing, ticket sales and professional concessions expertise; branding; campus-wide business and sponsorship development; and venue technology systems. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, the company has long had the privilege of being an advocate for intercollegiate athletics and the student-athlete experience. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.

SOURCE Learfield IMG College

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