TORONTO, July 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OverActive Media Corp. (“OverActive” or “OAM”) (TSXV:OAM), a global sports, media and entertainment company issued the following corporate update - including team and business highlights - following the successful commencement of trading of its shares on the TSX Venture Exchange on Wednesday, July 14, 2021.

SIGNIFICANT INVESTOR SUPPORT

OAM completed a Qualifying Transaction on July 9 and commenced trading on the TSX Venture Exchange on July 14. This was the culmination of a process that began in 2018 with OverActive’s successful bid for the Toronto franchise in the Overwatch League that has since seen OAM raise over $100M from hundreds of investors including a cross section of established brands, professional athletes and entertainers, including Bell, Westdale Properties, Ov2 Capital, The Weeknd, Mitch Marner (NHL), Phil Kessel (NHL), Carl Hagelin (NHL) and The Montreal Canadiens.

SUBSTANTIAL SPONSOR SUPPORT

As Media in Canada highlighted last week, “It’s been a busy week for OverActive Media as it continues to make strides towards becoming a global sports, media (and) entertainment company.”

OverActive has added 11 new marketing partners in 2021 to its global partnership roster bringing our total partner family to 16 with 50% representing multi-year partnerships. New partners include Red Bull, Jack Link’s and SCUF Gaming in North America, Razer, AOC, GLS and SEAT in Europe and a global partnership with EPOS across all OAM teams. In the last two weeks alone, OAM has added additional significant national and global brands to the partnerships roster with the additions of TD, Bud Light and Crave Meals (CRAVE), a Kraft Heinz Canada brand. TD’s notable partnership in the banking category launched with Toronto Defiant in 2020 has expanded to include Toronto Ultra in the Call of Duty League, on the strength of an ongoing shift in interest among traditional brands that are eager to reach today’s generation of fans. Toronto Ultra has increased its roster of major brand partners to 9, while also increasing revenue year over year. This positive momentum reflects the increased buy-in of large mainstream brand partners to the Call of Duty ecosystem.

With a focus on growing revenue streams, OAM partnered with leading esports lifestyle brand H4X in April to become the lead apparel partner of the Toronto Ultra & Toronto Defiant, joining Kappa, the official apparel partner of the MAD Lions teams across the European Union.

COMPETITIVE TEAMS = BIG AUDIENCE

Viewership across the four leagues that OAM maintains ownership in have seen strong growth since the pandemic began in early 2020. OAM has seen increased interest in esports and videogames from a broader demographic and believes this growth will be sustained going forward. OAM’s combined team social media audience of 1.8M has grown by 73% since January 1, 2020 and is on an accelerating growth trajectory (Source: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube).

NEW GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS

OverActive unveiled its new 15,000 square foot esports headquarters and training facility in Toronto including a Red Bull Gaming Studio, Bell Fibe Zone, TD Player Lounge and Canon Creator Lab, this past spring. Since its inauguration and while the global pandemic restricted team travel, the Liberty Village facility has provided a multipurpose high-performance space for training, physical & mental fitness and online match play on stage in a competition simulated environment.

The OAM HQ is the home of our industry leading content team for the Toronto Ultra & Toronto Defiant and home to OAM Live, our live and online events team who most recently operated, produced and broadcast the Jack Link’s $100K Canada Cup and the Toronto Ultra $100K Payout Warzone.

Venue of the Future

In February, OAM announced intentions to build a 7000 seat performance venue in Toronto. The project is on track and expected to gain the political approvals required in the near term.

As the second half of 2021 begins, the future is bright. With the planned return of live events in 2022, OverActive is ready to open the doors to fans, partners and investors. From esports events and watch parties at the Toronto headquarters to live team matches at larger venues, the OAM team is poised to continue driving positive momentum and the trajectory of continued successes into the future.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains statements which constitute “forward-looking statements” and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking statements”), including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of OverActive with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Forward-looking statements are often identified by the words “may”, “would”, “could”, “should”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect” or similar expressions.

Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but instead OverActive management’s expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Although OverActive believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed thereon, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of the OverActive. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements include the risks and uncertainties described in the Company's filing statement dated July 2, 2021 and other public disclosure documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although OverActive has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended and such changes could be material. OverActive does not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update the forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For more information, please contact:

Babak Pedram, Virtus Advisory Group Inc. (Investor Relations)
(416) 995-8651
bpedram@virtusadvisory.com

Joel Shaffer, Longview Communications Inc. (Public Relations)
(416) 670-6468
jshaffer@longviewcomms.ca

Alyson Walker, Chief Commercial Officer, OAM
(416) 436-8601
awalker@oam.gg

ABOUT OVERACTIVE MEDIA

OverActive Media (TSXV:OAM) is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with operations in Madrid, Spain and Berlin, Germany. OverActive’s mandate is to build an integrated global company delivering sports, media and entertainment products for today’s generation of fans with a focus on esports, videogames, content creation and distribution, culture, and live and online events. OverActive owns team franchises in (i) the Overwatch League, operating as the Toronto Defiant, (ii) the Call of Duty League, operating as the Toronto Ultra, (iii) the League of Legends European Championship (“LEC”), operating as the MAD Lions, (iv) the Superliga, operating as the MAD Lions Madrid, and (v) Flashpoint, operating as MAD Lions Counter Strike:Global Offensive (a franchised league operated by B Site Inc., a company in which OverActive holds a minority interest), as well as other non-affiliated CS:GO tournaments and leagues. OverActive also operates both live and online events, operating as OAM Live and maintains an active social media presence with its fans and community members, operates fan clubs, and other fan related activities that increase the reach of its brands.