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NEW YORK – The NBA 2K League yesterday recognized outstanding achievement in team marketing and business operations for the 2019 season when the league presented its NBA 2K League Team Business Awards during the NBA 2K League Fall Workshop in Indianapolis.

Magic Gaming received two awards – the Partnership of the Year Award and the Local Activation of the Year Award – while Raptors Uprising GC earned the Digital Innovator of the Year Award and Pacers Gaming won the Best Use of Streaming Award.

All 21 teams that competed during the 2019 season were invited to submit entries for each category, with the winners chosen by NBA 2K League executives and a Finalist Committee featuring a representative from each team.

"The NBA 2K League teams honored today represent the quality of innovation and partnership that we are used to seeing from our teams," said NBA 2K League Managing Director Brendan Donohue.  "The best part about these awards is that they make all of our teams better and create a new pinnacle for them to strive for next season."

Pacers Gaming was presented with the Best Use of Streaming Award for its use of Twitch to create an engaged community of fans and develop a bond between the team's fans and players.  Regularly scheduled programming with players as part of the Pacers Gaming Primetime series saw consistent viewership growth throughout the year, allowing the team to grow its fanbase and create new sponsorship opportunities.

Raptors Uprising GC was also a finalist for the Best Use of Streaming Award for integrating esports influencers and players into its regular Twitch streams.

Partnership of the Year
Magic Gaming won the Partnership of the Year Award for its fully-integrated partnership with Orlando Health.  The team provided the ideal platform for the health care provider to further establish its position as a leader in health care for esports athletes.  In becoming the Official Hospital Partner of Magic Gaming, Orlando Health connected with the local and national esports community through Magic Gaming and its highly-visible assets, including jersey patches and on-court signage, as well as community relations initiatives.

A key objective of the partnership was making a positive impact in the local community by building lasting relationships with both doctors and patients at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.  Magic Gaming players served as brand ambassadors for Orlando Health, offering professional gaming advice to hospitalized children and regularly visiting with Orlando Health physicians focused on the health and wellness of professional esports athletes.

Magic Gaming and Orlando Health will team up later this month to upgrade the hospital's main gaming room with a newer design and enhanced gaming system, in addition to providing customized gaming carts for children who are unable to leave their room.

Raptors Uprising GC was also a finalist for the Partnership of the Year Award for teaming up with Canadian telecommunications company Bell, which upgraded the technology at the team's practice facility, turning Bell Fibe House into a state-of-the-art, high-speed facility.

Local Activation of the Year
Magic Gaming was also honored with the Local Activation of the Year Award for its association with Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla.  The partnership helped promote Full Sail's new esports-focused curriculum and launch "The Fortress" – the new state-of-the-art home of the Full Sail Armada, the university's esports team.

An 11,000-square foot, 500-person capacity venue, "The Fortress" helped elevate the live NBA 2K League in-arena experience by creating an electric atmosphere for THE TICKET powered by AT&T when the arena hosted the NBA 2K League's final regular-season tournament earlier this year.

Other key activations included live Q&A sessions with Magic Gaming players for Full Sail students to learn about the routines of professional esports athletes, and the creation of a content series where Magic Gaming players spoke about a variety of topics, including their favorite subjects in school.

Cavs Legion GC was recognized as a finalist for the award for its Steel City Showdown in Pittsburgh. The team – in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Knights, Point Park University, and the City of Pittsburgh Sport Commission – staged a first-of-its-kind esports tournament in downtown Pittsburgh at the new Point Park University Theater.

Raptors Uprising GC received the Digital Innovator of the Year Award for the consistently high quality of its content and digital fan engagement throughout 2019.  The team created video and social content that was posted across its digital channels, enhancing the fan experience and creating a two-way conversation with followers, most notably through the video content series "6ixtape."

Instead of releasing traditional post-game highlights, the team created a season-long series of 6ixtape highlight reels featuring soundtracks from Toronto hip-hop artists, culminating in a VIP party and concert for fans.  Raptors Uprising GC content in 2019 also featured innovative collaborations with other esports teams and influencers including FaZe Clan and Agent 00.

2019 NBA 2K League Champions T-Wolves Gaming was another finalist for the award.  As an expansion team this past season, T-Wolves Gaming leveraged key tentpole moments to create awareness for its brand and to build an engaged community.  Often using creative nods to retro 8-bit video games, the team used moments such as the revealing of its logo, jersey and court to build an audience.

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Pacers Gaming Honored For Use of Streaming

On the 13th day of March, Pacers Gaming is hoping the number 13 is indeed lucky for the new franchise as the latest team in the family of Pacers Sports & Entertainment was awarded the No. 13 selection in the inaugural NBA 2K Draft Tuesday at the league's draft lottery in New York.

"It's a historical day for Pacers Gaming," said Kelly Krauskopf, Pacers Sports & Entertainment Sr. VP and head of the organization's esports enterprise. "When you consider the pool started with 72,000 players and now narrowed down to the best 102 available, I think our draft position in each round will definitely set us up to put together a great first-year team."

"I'm excited," said Cody Parrent, Pacers Gaming Director of esports Operations.  "There are so many talented players in this community that I believe all the teams will be competitive out of the gate.  We're just excited to get our gamers and hit the ground running."

The draft lottery, conducted at the MSG Networks 7th Avenue Studio, determined the order of selection for the NBA 2K League Draft, which will take place on Wed., April 4 at The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden's Lobby in New York (1 p.m. ET). In addition to the No. 13 overall selection, Pacers Gaming will have the 22nd, 47th, 56th, 81st and 90th picks.

In the non-weighted draft lottery, each team had an equal chance to receive the first overall pick. The lottery was conducted by drawing ping-pong balls in random order from the official ball machine used for the NBA Draft Lottery. Every team had one ping-pong ball, featuring its logo, in the machine. The drawing process occurred in the following manner: All 17 balls were placed in the lottery machine and mixed for 20 seconds; then the first ball was removed. The remaining balls were mixed in the lottery machine for another 15 seconds, and then the second ball was drawn. The same process was repeated for the remainder of the ping-pong balls until all 17 had been drawn.

The April 4 draft will consist of six rounds with each team selecting six players and will be snake order, with the order of picks reversing after each round.

The NBA 2K League is a professional esports league co-founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. For more information about the NBA 2K League, visit www.NBA2KLeague.com.

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Pacers Gaming to Select No. 13 in Inaugural NBA 2K League Draft

NEW YORK, March 9, 2018 – The NBA 2K League announced today that the inaugural NBA 2K League Draft will take place on Wednesday, April 4 at 1 p.m. ET in The Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden’s Lobby in New York. The first-ever NBA 2K League Draft Lottery, which determines the draft order for the 17 teams, will be held on Tuesday, March 13 at 1 p.m. ET.

The draft will consist of six rounds with each team selecting six players and will be snake order, with the order of picks reversing after each round.  For instance, the team with the first overall pick will have the last pick of the second round, the first pick of the third round and so on. The team with the 17th and last pick of the first round will have the first pick of the second round and the last pick of the third round. The 102 players available in the draft will have been selected by the league following an extensive tryout process that began in January.

"The NBA 2K League Draft is going to be incredible as we watch dreams become reality for our players," said NBA 2K League Managing Director Brendan Donohue. "We cannot wait to introduce the world to the first-ever NBA 2K League professionals and, most importantly, we are eager for our players to meet their teams and teammates for the first time. This will be a milestone moment for our league."

The draft lottery will be conducted by drawing ping-pong balls in random order from the official ball machine that is used for the NBA Draft Lottery. Every team will have one ping-pong ball with its logo featured.  In the non-weighted lottery, each team will have an equal opportunity for the first overall pick. The draft order will be revealed on the league’s Twitter account, @NBA2KLeague, beginning with pick 17 and counting down to the first pick.

Additional details on the draft and how fans can watch live will be announced at a later date.

About the NBA 2K League
The NBA 2K League is a professional esports league co-founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO). Launching in 2018, the league will feature the best NBA 2K players in the world. Each of the league’s 17 teams will draft players to compete as unique characters in 5-on-5 play against the other teams in a mix of regular-season games, tournaments and playoffs. The league will host tryouts in early 2018, followed by a draft in April and the season tip-off in May. For more information about the NBA 2K League, visit www.NBA2KLeague.com.

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Inaugural NBA 2K League Draft to Take Place April 4 in New York

INDIANAPOLIS – Pacers Sports & Entertainment Tuesday officially announced a fourth team to its family of Indiana sports teams. Joining the NBA Pacers, the WNBA Fever and the G League Ft. Wayne Mad Ants, will be Pacers Gaming, one of 17 teams in the NBA 2K League, which debuts in May 2018.

The NBA is the first U.S. professional sports league to operate an official esports league. The NBA 2K League is a partnership between the NBA and the game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. NBA 2K is a video basketball simulation game with gameplay that simulates a typical game of basketball. The Pacers Gaming team will field a roster of five players who will be selected from a pool of the world’s best gamers via the League Draft in March.

"We are very excited to be among the first NBA teams to join the NBA 2K League," said PS&E owner Herb Simon. "This is a great opportunity for us to get in on the ground floor of a fast-growing esports industry. I'm proud that our league is the first league to get into this exciting new world of professional esports competition. Our Pacers, Fever and Mad Ants fans now will have another team to root for."

"We are as committed to win from Day One with Pacers Gaming as we are with our other teams," said PS&E President Rick Fuson. "We are confident with our leadership that we will be very successful in the first season and beyond.  But we are most excited about the fact that the league offers unprecedented access and opportunity." NBA 2K playing skill is the primary qualifier to being a player in the 2K League; men/women, tall/short, young/old (18 or older), domestic/international – if one is among of the world’s best 2K players, he or she can be a part of this league.

Kelly Krauskopf, current Indiana Fever President and Pacers SVP, will serve as the primary leader of Pacers Gaming. In October, Krauskopf hired Cody Parrent as the Director of Esports Operations for Pacers Gaming. "We believe that in Cody we have one of the best judges of talent going forward in esports. We can't wait to get started. We believe the 2K League presents the perfect opportunity to extend PS&E’s reach into the rapidly-growing esports community."

Pacers Gaming, which will be the official name of the Pacers NBA 2K League team, unveiled its new logo on Tuesday. The logo features a modernized Pacers Panther which is unique to the franchise. "Boomer is part of the Pacers heritage; the logo takes Boomer into another dimension," said Krauskopf. "Our goal was to create a logo that connected with our past while communicating an edgy, confident and dynamic esports brand. I think we accomplished that."

Pacers Gaming

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