Manny Pacquiao Enters Esports With His Own Team
Filipino boxing legend, Manny Pacquiao has officially turned his eyes to esports. He’s far from the first sports legend that has shifted to the world of esports, it’s certainly an interesting one. It’s clearly an exciting venture for him, and on December 4th, 2021, Manny Pacquiao will reveal more of his team, Team Pacquiao GG. Manny Pacquiao stated that at 2 PM PST, on December 4th, the reveal will kick off.
Who Will Join Manny’s Team Pacquiao GG?
Manny Pacquiao’s esports endeavor aims to be the “pound for pound, esports heavyweights of Southeast Asia,” according to a press release. An important question though is, what games will they compete in? One of the biggest games in his native Philippines is DOTA 2. It remains to be seen what games he could compete in because there are so many hot games right now. CoD, Halo Infinite, CSGO, DOTA 2, there’s really no telling. We could see him representing the players and games of his home country though. Though we do have a hint, knowing that Super Kimbie will be playing Mobile Legends with Ghost Wrecker – that could just be content creation though.
The Veloce Group is the joint operation that Team Pacquiao GG is a part of. It’s made up of Veloce Esports, Veloce Racing (Extreme E team), as well as esports businesses Quadrant and Team Pacquiao GG. Quadrant may be familiar to some, as Lando Norris’ esports/content team. These are some serious powerhouses coming together to make Team Pacquiao happen. While we have no idea what esports and games will be played, we know something important: the content team.
Team Pacquiao GG says they are going to take a content-first approach to build its audience, and for that, you need some serious names. Manny Pacquiao has recruited some of the biggest names in the Philippines for his esports org.
They picked 5 leading Filipino creators, and each has its own role on the team. Gloco is a huge Youtube content creator and lifestyle streamer, as well as the Philippines ’ most popular fisherman. They also recruited Een Mercado, who is the first female esports pro in the Philippines. She’s an incredible Valorant player and streamer, and she will be a pro team ambassador and lead the squad’s female empowerment initiatives. She also briefly teased this on Twitter.
12.04.21 ???? 2PM Manila Time #teampacquiaogg pic.twitter.com/QmcUnbFODZ
— Een Mercado (@eenmercado) November 30, 2021
Super Kimbie is a Facebook gaming star, a national TV personality, and a leading female content creator. She’s going to team up with Ghost Wrecker in Mobile Legends. Ghost Wrecker is one of the biggest names in esports in the Philippines and will lead charity activations for Team Pacquiao. The last member of the team revealed is Sh1n Boo, the team’s shoutcaster, tournament host, and SEA esports insider. He’s going to be the content host for Team Pacquiao. Honestly, it sounds like they’ve put together an all-star team to get started.
There is a brief Timeline/Roadmap revealed about what we can expect from Team Pacquiao as 2021-2022 roll on:
- Q4 2021: Launch, December 2021; Content roll out and implementation
- Q1 2022: Launch charity and community tournament series, first team apparel drop, begin content creator bootcamp series
- Q2 2022: Host additional national esports tournaments, begin further charity activations and campaigns, launch Team Pacquaio GG esports teams and franchises
- Q3 2022: Build and establish Team Pacquiao GG global gaming headquarters, launch Team Pacquiao GG Academy Teams, Expand into greater SEA region through further signings
This is a very exciting move for SEA esports. Manny Pacquiao is the People’s Champion of the Philippines, and it sounds like he’s taking this venture seriously. He wants to create a brand that gives back to the fans. Team Pacquaio is going to focus on content creation and hosting events first, and then as they grow, will move into the world of esports. This way they can organically grow and find talent to bring on board from the SEA region. We can’t wait to see what Manny’s Team Pacquiao GG has in store for the world of esports.
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