MTA hosting esports partnership kickoff event with MSBSD at Menard Center

WASILLA — Matanuska Telephone Association is hosting an event at the Menard Sports Center on Friday at 4 p.m. to kick off their partnership with the Mat-Su Borough School District in teaming up to provide esports opportunities for the 19,000 students within Mat-Su Borough School District.

“While we’ve always been a strategic supporter of MSBSD, this is our first official Esports sponsorship. This sponsorship names MTA as the Official Esports Partner of MSBSD,” said MTA Public Relations Manager Jessica Gilbert. “This new sponsorship takes that to a whole new level. Not only does the annual sponsorship include a meaningful financial contribution into the esports programs, but it also includes free access to our esports equipment, two esports internship opportunities, official jerseys for the players, and more.”

The partnership includes an internship opportunity for two MSBSD students who will have the opportunity to shadow and cross train with MTA employees, learning all that goes into the annual eUnlimited tournament. The event provides a supplement to the eUnlimited gaming tournament held in October at the Menard Center. The eUnlimited featured nearly 500 gamers and spanned a whole weekend as the largest gaming tournament in the state, including a $2,500 prize to Palmer High School’s Rocket League team that won the inaugural MSBSD tournament within eUnlimited. Friday’s event will similarly feature a scrimmage between two high school esports teams yet to be determined.

“We foresee this partnership having a lasting impact on the gamers. To have a well established organization like MTA not only supporting esports but investing in really shows the gamers that we see value in the skills they are cultivating. We see future employees, entrepreneurs,” said Gilbert.

Through the partnership, MTA will provide year round strategic technical support to the staff and students and have already hired an employee whose job is to promote esports and facilitate the eUnlimited tournament. MTA also supplied MSBSD gamers with free gaming equipment and jerseys.