Thunderpick Named Presenting Partner of 2026 Esports Awards
The Esports Awards have a new name on the marquee.
Thunderpick has signed a 12-month deal to become the presenting and official iGaming partner of the 2026 Esports Awards. iGaming is the industry's catch-all term for online betting and gambling. For the length of the agreement, the show will be known as the Esports Awards Presented by Thunderpick. The ceremony takes place on November 17 in Miami, and neither side has disclosed what the deal is worth.
It would be easy to treat this as another logo on a stage backdrop. But the agreement reaches further than the awards night itself.
More Than One Night in Miami
Thunderpick's name will be attached to three specific honours: Esports Play of the Month, Esports Play of the Year and Streamer of the Year. The company is also backing the event's year-round content, including original storytelling projects. Those include the Esports Play of the Month series and the Origins Podcast.
That's the key detail. The awards now run programming across the whole year rather than going quiet between ceremonies, and Thunderpick has bought into all of it. Its presence doesn't start and stop with a single broadcast in November. It runs through the full partnership term.
Thunderpick isn't the only new partner. The Esports Awards also named Hotspawn as presenting partner for three side events: the Esports Awards Invitational, the Lifetime Achievement Mixer and the PWR UP B2B Conference. The result is a programme split into distinct pieces, each with its own backer. The main ceremony and its content sit with one partner, and the wider events sit with another.
A Decade of Handing Out Trophies
The Esports Awards have been running for more than 10 years. Their scope has always gone beyond the people holding the controllers. Players and teams are recognised, but so are companies, brands and the people who do the work behind the scenes. That gives the show a broader industry remit than a straightforward "best player, best team" affair.
The event has also added new recognition over time, including a set of mobile awards. Individual honours are still central, and the best esports player category remains among those open to public votes.
How to Vote, and When It Counts Most
Nine categories are currently open to fan voting. They include:
- Esports Game of the Year
- Esports Mobile Game of the Year
- Streamer of the Year
- Esports Personality of the Year
Voting runs until November 10. If you plan to take part, timing matters. Any vote cast between November 3 and November 10 counts double. That final week is effectively the last push of the public ballot, and it closes exactly one week before the Miami ceremony.
The announcement didn't include projected audience numbers, viewership targets or any figures on how the sponsorship is expected to perform.
Our Take
For most players, the practical takeaway is simple. If you care who wins Streamer of the Year or Esports Game of the Year, hold some votes back for that double-count window in early November.
The bigger picture is about who is paying for esports' big nights. Handing presenting rights to an iGaming company, alongside separate partners for the side events, suggests the awards are spreading their commercial bets rather than leaning on one backer. That approach makes sense in an industry where money is clearly tight. Even long-standing organisations like Complexity have shut their doors, while recognition for esports keeps growing elsewhere, as with the medal status at the Asian Games.
It is worth watching whether a betting sponsor on year-round content changes the tone of that storytelling. And with no financial terms or audience figures published, it's still an open question whether this model will prove sustainable beyond a single 12-month cycle.