This is the full text of Fortyseven.com's 8/2/2017 press release.

Vainglory’s Full 2017 Esports calendar revealed! Fnatic, Echo Fox, NRG, Rogue and Immortals debut dedicated teams ahead of Vainglory’s Spring Season launch in March

Super Evil Megacorp, creators of Vainglory, the world’s leading mobile esport, today welcomes five of the world’s largest esports franchises — Fnatic, Echo Fox, NRG, Rogue and Immortals — to its professional gaming lineup. Each team will compete in Vainglory’s Spring Season, which kicks off in March, marking the start of Vainglory’s second full seasonal esports year. These teams join the likes of TSM, Cloud9, G2 Esports, SK Gaming, Team Secret, mousesports and DetonatioN Gaming in high-stakes competition that will culminate in December at the second annual Vainglory World Championship Event. To celebrate the arrival of these new professional organizations, Super Evil will be hosting all five teams at the company’s “Super Evil Lair” in San Mateo for a “Run the Gauntlet” Preseason Invitational on February 26th, which will be broadcast live on twitch.tv/vainglory.

Headquartered in London, since 2004, Fnatic is a leading and global esports organization with professional teams in popular games including League of Legends, CounterStrike, Dota 2, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, and now, as its first mobile esport, Vainglory.  One of the fastest-growing esports franchises, Echo Fox is already having a promising 2017, having just acquired nine new fighting game players, now boasting one of the strongest and most accomplished fighting game community rosters in the world.

The team, which is also currently competing in the North American League of Legends Champion Series Spring Split, is making its foray into mobile esports with its Vainglory team. Los Angeles-based NRG, which currently ranks first in North America in Rocket League and first in the world for Smite, debuts a Vainglory team full of veterans with a great deal of Championship experience. The relatively new Rogue, best known for playing Overwatch, Counter-strike: Global Offensive and Call of Duty, and recently, H1Z1, took home the largest prize pool tournament ever for Overwatch in the APAC Premier in China, and welcomes its Vainglory roster as its fifth team in the franchise. Immortals enters Vainglory esports with the signing of all three players formerly of Hammers Velocity, North America’s Spring Champions and Worlds semifinalists. The full team rosters for the five incoming pro organizations are posted on Vainglory’s official website.
 

“These are some of the most diverse and high-profile teams in all of esports,” said Kristian Segerstrale, CEO of Super Evil Megacorp. “To have them not only recognize Vainglory’s growth over the past year, but also create their first-ever teams dedicated to a mobile game, means the competition in the 2017 season is going to be more fierce than ever before. These teams are owned and operated by some of the most respected names in sports and entertainment, and there’s tremendous opportunity for everyone involved to usher in the next defining moments of esports.”

Amongst some of the high-profile names across sports and entertainment behind these teams are former NBA champion and Echo Fox owner Rick Fox, NBA Hall of Famer and co-owner of NRG Shaquille O’Neal, MLB World Series champions and NRG co-owners Alex Rodriguez and Jimmy Rollins, Sacramento Kings co-owners Andy Miller and Mark Mastrov, who also co-own NRG, famed music producer, DJ and co-owner of Rogue, Steve Aoki, and Lionsgate’s President of Interactive Ventures and Games, Peter Levin, who heads a team of Immortals investors that includes Memphis Grizzlies co-owner Steve Kaplan.

“For Fnatic, to join the game and pro-circuit of Vainglory can be best expressed as ‘one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,’” Said Patrik Sättermon, Chief Gaming Officer for Fnatic. “Since the launch of Vainglory, we’ve been closely following its development into a great and mature esports title. We believe there’s a bright future for mobile based esports which signals a shift from the PC-dominated titles until now. Fnatic and its very talented Vainglory roster are looking forward to excite our fans straight out of our main base in London.”

 The first to become a part of Vainglory’s recently announced Home City Program, Fnatic will be claiming London as its home. There, the team will help build the Vainglory community by arranging local tournaments, meetups and more. The Home City Program enables teams to connect with the local fan community and players through events and local pride, including hosting LAN parties and attending viewing events.

“Echo Fox prides itself on being on the leading edge of esports,” said team owner Rick Fox. “Vainglory caught our attention due to its explosive growth and Super Evil Megacorp’s dedication to building a thriving competitive ecosystem. The players that we’ve signed have already shown their talents and we are proud to be leading the charge in mobile esports. I’m glad to welcome FooJee, MICSHE, CullTheMeek, and LoneDelphi to our organization.”

Vainglory generated incredible growth in 2016 in terms of active players, esports views and overall community engagement. Vainglory tripled its active player community on Android, generated more than 450 million minutes of competition watched on streaming platforms and celebrated its first-ever World Championship tournament at the legendary TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, which garnered more than 25,000 concurrent viewers from fans watching at home. Vainglory is forging the path for mobile games as they shift from short-session, standalone gaming toward deep, shared experiences.

Vainglory’s full 2017 esports calendar has also been revealed today. Spring Season will kick off in March, Summer season in June and Autumn season in September, culminating with a World Championship in December, followed by the winter offseason. More details can be found at vainglorygame.com.

Vainglory can be downloaded for free from the App Store, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore.