Vince Ellis Detroit Free Press Published 6:00 AM EDT Aug 18, 2019 Pistons Gaming Team was booed off the stage in its encore season. After reaching the playoffs in the inaugural outing of the NBA 2K league in 2018, the Detroit Pistons’ affiliate stumbled to a 2-14 last-place finish in the second season in which T-Wolves Gaming captured the 2019 title and $360,000 in the 21-team league. After starting 1-1, Pistons GT lost 13 matches in a row before winning the season finale. There were losses by 41, 34, 25 and 22 points as the team struggled with chemistry issues. But team officials put on an optimistic front during a recent interview at the Palace, where the six-man team practiced. The 2K team and the rest of the franchise will move into the Detroit Pistons-Henry Ford Performance Center later this year. The esports venture has more room to grow, and Pistons vice president of brand networks Mike Donnay points to adding new sponsors in the second season. NBA 2K League managing director Brendan Donohue cites the growing viewership numbers after adding the reach of YouTube to the initial partnership with Amazon-owned Twitch, a live streaming video website for gamers. Donohue, a former Pistons employee, said more than one million viewers watched the first two games of the championship series between T-Wolves Gaming and 76ers GC – significantly more than the 650,000 who watched the first season’s title series. That number doesn’t include viewership added by Tencent, China’s internet giant which… [Read full story]
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