Spectator Gaming and Nerd Street Gamers have teamed up to host an incredible VALORANT tournament, featuring eight all-women rosters! This is going down on September 12th, and it’s called FTW Summer Showdown! It’s important to have inclusivity in the esports scene, and this is a good step in that direction. Having the backing of a company like Comcast NBC Universal (Spectator Gaming) should give this plenty of backing and viewership, and that can’t possibly be a bad thing.

The qualifiers for this all-women VALORANT tournament begin on September 5th, and the tournament will have a 10,000 dollar prize pool. The argument could be made that other tournaments have much bigger prize pools, but this is still a solid move. Though you’d think with T1 and G FUEL sponsoring, we could get a bigger amount of money. Perhaps this is a test to see what kind of turnout the tournament gets. But this isn’t the first team-up by T1 and Nerd STreet, as they held an Ignition Series for Valorant back in June: T1 x Nerd Street Gamers Showdown.

Paige Funk, Senior Marketing Director of Street Street spoke about the event:

“We want to give more women a seat at the table in this industry — both for competitors and for women seeking a career in esport. We’re excited to team up with Spectacor Gaming, T1, and G FUEL to host our first all-women VALORANT invitational and spotlight female gamers who are making strides in the industry. From the players to the logistical staff, this tournament is a testament to the power that women have to drive the gaming industry forward today and in the future.”

This tournament is a part of the FTW (For The Women) initiative by Spectator, which began in 2019. Spectator Gaming is owned by the Philadelphia Flyers, and they began their quest into esports back in 2017, when they acquired the Philadelphia region of the Overwatch League (which resulted in the Philadelphia Fusion). The Fusion was pretty successful too, making it to the Grand Finals of 2018, though they did fall to the London Spitfire.

The idea is a simple one, but one that needs to happen. The goal is to push opportunities for women and connect them in the gaming space. In the past, this has included tournaments by Nerd Street, and outreach and communities across Discord. We can only hope this continues, and that they will see prize pools equal to what other tournaments in the same games have. Spectator is invested in Nerd Street, and also recently teamed up with SK Telecom. T1, SK Telecom’s esports arm is home to some of the most famous, successful League of Legends players in the world, Faker. They’re also home to one of the top Valorant teams. 

These are people that very clearly understand esports, and know what they can bring to women in esports. This doesn’t feel like just a gimmick to get more women watching esports (specifically, their esports) either. Equality and diversity are so very important, and we want to see more of that in esports going forward. This is a step that way, and we love to see it.