FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT
June 6, 2019 Jenny Ficenec
401-381-0600/jficenec@bca.coop
BLOOD CENTERS OF AMERICA PARTNERS WITH TOP ESPORTS ORGANIZATION, TEAM LIQUID
West Warwick, RI – Blood Centers of America (BCA) announced today that with its members, they are partnering with Team Liquid, a multi-regional, professional esports organization, to raise awareness of the importance of blood donation and to encourage donations.
BCA is a national, member-owned network of over 50 independent blood centers – each that has a singular focus of providing high-quality blood products for patients in their communities. With less than 20% of blood donations coming from 20-34-year-olds, BCA is joining hands with Team Liquid in an effort to encourage more donations from these key generational demographics.
“Blood donations have never been more important, and everyone can play a part in making sure that people who need blood are able to get it,” said Bill Block, BCA president and CEO. “What we see is that over 45% of blood donations come from donors that are over 50, and the average age of donors is increasing each year. We need to engage younger generations in order to maintain an available blood supply.
Custom, limited Team Liquid t-shirts will be offered to everyone who donates blood in one of the branded buses or at a participating blood center location. These branded buses will travel to universities, Team Liquid events and other locations in order to increase awareness of the importance of blood donation.
“We’re proud to partner with Blood Centers of America and its members on this live-saving initiative,” says Steve Arhancet. “Our fans are such a supportive, tight-knit community, and now we’re calling on them to help us accomplish something bigger than what we could achieve in any competition. Collectively, we have the opportunity to make a measurable impact on communities as well as save lives.”
The need for blood is significant. Every two seconds an American needs blood. One whole pint of blood can save three or more lives. As the largest network of blood centers in the U.S., BCA members ensure donated blood reaches patients at hospitals and health systems nationwide.
“This is a unique opportunity for us to reach a crucial demographic of eligible blood donors in the U.S.,” explains Bill Block. “If everyone touched by this campaign signs up and shares the message with family and friends, we would see a major difference.”
This program has been funded through a generous grant from The Commonwealth Transfusion Foundation.
About Blood Centers of America
Blood Centers of America (BCA) is a member-owned organization comprised of over 50 independent blood centers throughout North America, representing nearly 40% of the U.S. blood supply. Along with their core business of providing a substantial portion of U.S. blood supply, other BCA member services include patient blood management, transfusion services, immunohematology testing, therapeutic apheresis and tissue and cord blood banking. In addition, BCA members provide a variety of human blood products, cells and tissues to the therapeutic, diagnostic and cell therapy industries. Learn more at www.bca.coop.
About Team Liquid
Team Liquid was founded in 2000 and has evolved into one of the leading international multigame esports teams with training centers in Utrecht, The Netherlands, Sao Paulo, Brazil and Los Angeles, California. Team Liquid has over 65 athletes competing across 17 distinct games, including all major esports titles, such as DOTA 2, League of Legends, CS:GO, Fortnite, PUBG and more. Led by Co-CEOs Steve Arhancet and Victor Goossens, Team Liquid is one of the most successful esports teams in the Western market in terms of competitive achievement and fan engagement across multiple sports. Their League of Legends franchise is undefeated in North America in 2018 and 2019, claiming LCS titles in back-to-back splits and a second place finish at the international tournament the Mid-Season Invitational, while their CS:GO team is currently ranked #1 in the world. For more information: https://goo.gl/dSYvHT.
In addition to the premier esports team franchise, Liquid Enterprises operates various business units created to complement its esports athletic brand. This includes influencer management agency, Liquipedia, Liquid Media, and 1UP Studios, the full service production company known for its high-quality esports documentary style filmmaking, and creative commercial content.
Controlling interest in Team Liquid was recently purchased by esports ownership group, aXiomatic. aXiomatic leadership includes Co-Executive Chairmen Peter Guber, Ted Leonsis, Jeff Vinik and Bruce Karsh who together represent an unparalleled team of sports, technology, entertainment and investment industry titans.
About Commonwealth Transfusion Foundation
Commonwealth Transfusion Foundation is a freestanding private foundation dedicated to advancing the art and science of transfusion medicine with a mission of championing excellence in transfusion medicine. It is our hope that, through our mission, we build a stronger community of hospitals, health care providers, and patients.
