Nerd Street Secures License From Riot Games for Mid-Tier Circuit With “Nerd Street Summer Championships”

The 20k tournament will be open to teams that have not qualified for the NA VALORANT Masters tournaments

PHILADELPHIA, March 22, 2021– Nerd Street Gamers, the national esports infrastructure company, announced today it secured a license from Riot Games for an amateur VALORANT circuit. Nerd Street will host a $20,000 VALORANT tournament as part of their Summer Championships this August.

With a focus on creating competitive opportunities in esports, this tournament will allow rising VALORANT players to come together and compete for one of the highest prize pots in the amateur scene. In order to promote the development of new and emerging teams, the Nerd Street VALORANT Summer Championship is only open to teams that have not qualified for an NA VALORANT Masters tournaments.

Teams looking to compete in the Nerd Street Summer Championship can secure their spot through weekly tournaments where they will earn placement on leaderboards or directly qualify for Summer Championships by competing in a monthly tournament.

“Working with Riot Games over the past year to build the VALORANT competitive ecosystem, and seeing teams rise from amateurs to being signed by professional organizations has been extremely rewarding,” says Sean Powell, Director of Competitive Ops at Nerd Street Gamers. “We are dedicated to creating more accessibility to the path to pro for these hard working players, and providing opportunities for exposure of their talents. The next pro team will be competing in the Nerd Street Summer Champs, and we are excited to see who rises to the occasion.”

This opportunity comes after Nerd Street was selected as tournament operator and producer for additional stages of the inaugural 2021 VALORANT Champions Tour and VCT Game Changers Tournament I. It is a testament to the organization’s capabilities and strengths as a partner.

“Our approach to building VALORANT esports includes ensuring competitive opportunities exist for all players wanting to get involved, from the best pros in the scene to amateurs who are just beginning their VALORANT careers,” said Matthew Archambault, Head of Esports Partnerships & BD, NA & OCE at Riot Games. “We trust Nerd Street to provide integrity-driven VALORANT tournaments as part of their Summer Championships circuit, and look forward to seeing which teams come out on top.”

Released in June 2020, VALORANT is a relatively new game within the industry but has quickly evolved and gained popularity among players. Through various initiatives and tournaments, such as the first North American VALORANT Ignition Series Event and FTW Ignition Series, Nerd Street and Riot Games are creating a solid foundation for VALORANT to be a leading esports category.

Teams interested in competing can register for Nerd Street tournaments at nerdstgamers.com/valorant.

About Nerd Street Gamers

Nerd Street Gamers (Nerd Street) is a national network of esports facilities and events dedicated to powering competitive opportunities for gamers. The company promotes greater access to the esports industry, laying a national framework for esports talent development and high-quality gaming tournaments. Nerd Street has received backing from Five Below, Comcast Spectacor, SeventySix Capital, Elevate Ventures, angel investor George Miller, and Founders Fund.

For more information, follow @nerdstgamers on Twitter or visit http://www.nerdstgamers.com.