(Image of LaMelo Ball courtesy MB1 Gaming)
Reigning NBA Rookie of the Year LaMelo Ball has launched MB1 Gaming – a platform for esports tournaments, merchandise drops and content distribution – created with the One Up OS app. As part of the kick-off, MB1 and flagship partner Puma will sponsor a free-to-enter tournament beginning Feb. 5 for players of NBA 2K.
The partnership with One Up, whose app enables branded esports services on its platform, is unusual among athletes involved in esports. A number of prominent NBA and other sports’ stars, teams and leagues have invested directly in existing pro esports teams or franchises.
Ball’s approach will instead allow others to play or create teams that play in events his platform will sponsor with corporate partners such as Puma.
“Instead of backing an esports team, I’d rather start my own eventually and in order to do that I needed to build an esports brand and start building community, which is why I partnered with One Up,” Ball said in an email interview. “This collaboration will be the first step to discovering the top gamers to join my team in the near future.”
The MB1 platform’s first event begins next weekend, an NBA 2K tournament sponsored by Puma and One Up . Finalists will compete in a $25,000 playoff during the NBA’s All-Star Game festivities in Cleveland on Feb. 18. All finalists will receive airfare and hotel expenses to take part in the playoffs, and receive a pair of LaMelo-branded Puma MB.01 shoes.
Ball said the partnership with Puma is “Ongoing. We are locked in. They support me in everything I do, and I know they’re serious about breaking into the gaming space. I’m thankful for PUMA’s support. The NBA 2K invitational will be the first of many experiences that we do together.”
The platform will feature other tournaments across various game titles, as well as original content, including a video discussion featuring Ball that drops today, and access to branded merchandise.
The One Up OS app takes a different approach to esports, providing a software-as-a-service, or SAAS, product that allows users to quickly create and promote their own personalized gaming brand and community.
One Up CEO Brandon Pitts, a former college basketball player, first got into esports as a side hustle in his dorm, then built One Up as a way for people to not only play esports, but also to make money from them.
“We are excited to partner with stars like LaMelo in the creation of their own esports brands and communities through One Up’s turnkey technology platform,” Pitts said in a release. ”Many professional athletes are big gamers and are looking for unique ways to use their own gaming fandom to ignite and expand their fanbase. We are completely democratizing competitive esports, and providing gamers with the infrastructure to either compete and monetize their skills or launch their own esports business.”
One benefit of being part of the larger One Up platform, Ball said, was the flexibility it provides for fans to dip in and out of communities built around different players and brands.
“All my fans will be able to join a variety of MB1 Gaming tournaments in my community, but they will also be able to play in other celebrities’ and influencers’ communities, too,” Ball said. “I think that the real benefit to the One Up platform is that you can bounce around and play in all sorts of competitions, not just MB1 Gaming’s.”
He also said he’s hoping the platform approach helps inspire fans to build their own gaming brands and become esports and brand entrepreneurs.
“Who knows, through starting a business in gaming with a partner like One Up, that may give them the fundamentals and inspiration for their next business outside of gaming,” Ball said. “Anything is possible.”
Content drops, like video of him playing, may be more difficult to create during the season, given other demands on his time, “so, we(’re) going to see what’s up this summer maybe.”
Ball will promote the platform through his existing accounts, he said. Like many pro athletes, he’s a serious gamer when time allows, playing NBA 2K, Fortnite, Madden NFL and Call of Duty on various systems.
Ball has been in the public spotlight since his freshman year of high school, when he teamed with older brothers Lonzo, now with the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, and LiAngelo, now playing for the NBA G League’s Greensboro Swarm, to win the California state basketball championship for Chino Hills High.
Ball bypassed college to play for a year with Australian pro team Illiwarra Hawks. He was the No. 3 overall pick in the NBA’s 2020 draft, and won the league’s Rookie of the Year award, averaging 19 points, 7 rebounds and nearly 8 assists per game in his first season with the Charlotte Hornets.
