Global brand Esports Pro League (ESPL) has announced that it has chosen Malaysian esports tournament organiser Axis Esports as its first country franchisee for their new worldwide esports tournament.

ESPL is an integrated ecosystem for tournaments, brands, publishers, teams, and players with a focus on the grassroots community and digital interactivity. It is slated to launch in early 2020 across 16 different countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, targeting amateur gamers with aspirations of becoming professionals.

Earlier today at Level Up KL 2019, ESPL CEO Michael Broda and Olympic Council Malaysia President Dato’ Sri Mohd Norza Zakaria officially signed the agreement which cemented the collaboration between ESPL and Axis Esports.

ESPL is co-founded by tech firm Sedania Innovator Berhad and publisher iCandy Interactive. On the question of how EPL will be affected by other esports regulating bodies and authorities in Malaysia, Sedania founder Datuk Azrin Mohd Noor said:

“ESPL is a global brand. I have no control over them, or how they’re going to appoint franchisees and media partners all around the world.

For Malaysia, ESPL is a tool as an entry point for amateur players.

Sports and politics shouldn’t be involved.

The top two percent of pro players will be still be regulated by these local esports authorities and bodies, but ESPL is designed to attend to the 98 percent of amateur players, implementing a zero-to-hero strategy for 18-year-old boys who wants to represent their country.

That’s what ESPL’s foundation is built upon, and what Sedania is aligning their interests with.

We welcome every grassroots and organization.

Today is about announcing our first franchise partner in the world, and they (ESPL) chose Malaysia to be their first franchisee.

It’s a win for Malaysia as a country.

It’s a win for all amateur players in this country.”

According to Datuk Azrin Mohd Noor, ESPL is unaffiliated with any of the esports organizations and authoritative bodies in the country. It won’t matter if the players are part of any state or national associations.

ESPL and Axis Esports’ agreement is similar to the deal between Sepang International Circuit and FIA Motorsports in order to obtain the Formula One license. In addition, ESPL is also partnering with eGG Network for its upcoming tournament.

However, no games have been officially announced for ESPL as of yet, though they will likely feature popular esports games like Dota 2 or the like.