SBJ Gaming: EA Sports enlists its first high school football player
Elijah Haven is the top-rated QB in high school football, and he's signing up as a Gen/EA Sports athlete, as EA looks for ways to build long-term relationships. Also in SBJ Gaming for April 6: Hasbro works with FIFA for the first time for board games and Valorant's esports reset and new sponsors.
Riot Games adds four sponsors as it reorganizes Valorant esports
ExpressVPN, HP/HyperX, Zowie and Samsung are signing up as sponsors of the Valorant Championship Tour Americas, joining existing sponsors Red Bull, Secretlab, Verizon and Pulsar as Riot Games reorganizes the esports scene for its online shooter.
Hasbro sees FIFA World Cup as an idea fit for marketing Connect 4, Monopoly games
Hasbro is working on its first sports activation for FIFA for the Men’s World Cup under the Monopoly and Connect 4 banners as part of the toy company’s long history for special editions of games.
EA Sports signs top prep QB Elijah Haven to its athlete roster
The Gen/EA Sports program added its youngest athlete yet in Elijah Haven, the No. 1 QB in 247Sports’ 2027 class of high school players (and second-ranked overall). He joins a group that includes Jaguars WR/CB Travis Hunter, Chelsea’s Alyssa Thompson (she was with Angel City FC when first signed), Re...
Riot Games brings League of Legends Worlds back to the U.S.
League of Legends’ Worlds 2026 championship tournament is returning to the U.S., with early stages in L.A. and Allen, Texas, and the finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
SBJ Gaming: Ubisoft’s ‘major milestone’ with NASCAR
The March 13, 2026, SBJ Gaming newsletter reports on Ubisoft's first partnership
Blizzard brewing a classic game competition for BlizzCon
Here’s something I hope we see more of on the esports scene: multigame competitions. Throw in a relay race-style setup with classic names that were once the biggest in gaming, like StarCraft? That’s even better.
Ubisoft’s work with NASCAR is a ‘major milestone’ for The Crew: Motorfest
Earlier this month, NASCAR and Ubisoft marked the first collaboration for The Crew: Motorfest, the French publisher’s racing game. It’s another sign of how the stock car organization continues to expand its presence in video games to reach audiences outside its traditional fan base.
SBJ Gaming: A 30-year-old Japanese soccer series goes global
The Feb. 27, 2026, SBJ Gaming news covers Sega Football Club Champions celebrating its 30th year with a global release, Rocket League's Boston Major's milestone, the and boost NASCAR saw from the Daytona 500 for its gaming efforts.
Sega looks West to battle declining downloads for Football Club Champions
You might have seen some recent buzz around Sega Football Club Champions 2026. This free-to-play soccer management sim for PlayStation, PC and iOS/Android debuted Jan. 22, and in a little more than a month, the publisher said it had garnered over 2 million downloads.