IRVINE, Calif.—A pair of youth-oriented wireless service providers are looking to raise their profile and score exclusive content with separate deals.
Boost Mobile L.L.C., which is a division of Sprint Nextel Corp., announced a two-year deal to sponsor the Major League Gaming (MLG) Pro Circuit. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Boost said it would lend its name to the touring video-game league, and the company’s subscribers can access MLG-branded content including player profiles and video diaries. MLG competitors will use Boost phones and the company’s iDEN-based push-to-talk service to communicate with other players during tournaments.
“Gaming is a favorite pastime of our customers,” said Jeff Werderman, senior director of brand marketing for Boost. “We are happy to partner with MLG to enable our subscribers to participate in this explosive new sports entertainment phenomenon directly on their Boost phone.”
The MLG’s seven-city tour kicks off this weekend in New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Amp’d Mobile Inc. said it was teaming with Break.com on a comedy tour at five New England colleges. Camera crews will follow stand-up comics Nick Thune and Jo Koy during this week’s tour, and Amp’d Mobile subscribers will be able to access both on- and off-stage footage.
The content will also be available on Break.com, a Web site that offers user-generated video clips and photos.
“We’re also building content channels around Jo and Nick in Amp’d Live,” said Seth Cummings, Amp’d’s senior vice president of content and Internet. “These guys are going to be huge and we look forward to following their success on our handsets.”
