One Up Scores New Deal with NBA2K
A new multi-year deal between Take-Two Interactive's 2K Studios and the on-demand gaming platform One Up will give NBA 2K players more opportunities to monetize their skill sets.
One Up touts itself as the “leading on-demand esports company democratizing how video game tournaments are accessed and organized.”
The “Play One Up” platform allows gamers to wager on head-to-head matchups across popular games like Call of Duty, Fortnite, Madden NFL, NBA 2K, FIFA, and NHL.
The goal of this new partnership with NBA 2K is to give amateur players an open pathway to take part in competitive gaming tournaments.
“With this landmark NBA 2K deal, we want to lower the barrier of entry to esports tournaments,” said One Up CEO Brandon Pitts.
The deal will be going into effect soon after the launch of NBA2k 24 this September.
Creating for the Culture
While the app itself took shape in 2019, the concept for Play One Up was born from how Pitts had grown to experience the culture of competitive gaming.
“We grew up putting $100 on the ground,” said Pitts, “all I did was to create a technology to legitimize it.”
As a child, Pitts watched his uncles throw out hundreds betting on whatever game was loaded in the PlayStation.
When he played college hoops, Brandon’s dorm was the go-to location for anyone who wanted to back up their trash talk with cash bets.
Unfortunately, Pitts tore his ACL upending his college basketball career, so he decided to move home back to Cleveland.
As fate would have it, this would give him the time and headspace to work on what would eventually turn into the Play One Up App.
Building for the Gamer
Four years after its launch, Play One Up has grown into one of the largest peer-to-peer on-demand gaming platforms with over 750,000 users.
According to Pitts, the growth of One Up came from focusing on the millions of gamers left out the glitz and glam of major esports events.
“Everybody is focused on the big tournaments and the big experiences,” expressed Pitts, “our position is more or less how do we democratize esports? How do we make it more accessible?”
This concept of providing accessibility is what drew in partners like Terry Rozier, Victor Oladipo, and Denzel Ward amongst other professional athletes.
It’s also why Ronnie 2K himself said he sees this new deal with One Up as an opportunity to “push the online competitive scene to a whole new level and give [NBA2K] fans even more opportunities to compete and win great prizes.”
Pitts says this new partnership with Take-Two Interactive/NBA2K is a validation of his vision that One Up was filling a real void in the gaming community.
“Our collaboration with 2K has laid the blueprint for helping publishers build game loyalty and community through tournaments that are truly open to all,” said Pitts
Prepping for the Future
To celebrate the launch of the new partnership One Up will power a series of free-to-enter online tournaments hosted by NBA stars around the county.
More details will be coming after the games launch, One Up will leverage NBA 2K’s in-game promotions and social media to drive awareness and engagement.
Pitts said the most exciting part for him is the opportunity to give millions of gamers access to millions of dollars in prizes for competing in a game he grew up loving to play.
According to Brandon, the company’s success boils down to going against the grain and betting on “the stigma” held against gamers.
“My goal is to make all the sisters, the wives, the moms, the grandmas all the video game haters eat their words,” taking a pause Pitts continues, “I think we’re doing a pretty damn good job with One Up in doing that.”
Considering the track record, going in on Brandon Pitts and Play One Up seems like a good bet for all parties involved.
