New York - On the same day that rival Championship Gaming Series announced its demise, Major League Gaming said it has expanded its sponsorship deal with Dr Pepper. The soft drink maker will beginning in January distribute 175 million MLG-branded soda bottles, which will award bottle cap prizes including Xbox consoles, TV monitors, t-shirts and online tournament points at GameBattles.com. Major League Gaming enters its national championships for the 2008 season this weekend.

Grapevine, Texas - GameStop, the large video game retail store chain, announced on Wednesday that it has renewed its sponsorship of Major League Gaming, a pro video gamers league, through the 2008 season. Separately, GameStop announced plans to host its own video game tournaments for Nintendo's "Pokemon" titles for the DS. The Pokemon Battle Revolution tournaments will be held at 1,000 U.S. GameStop and EB Games locations on July 21.

New York - Professional video game league Major League Gaming announced on Tuesday that it has expanded its reach into Canada, through an agreement with Toronto-based sports media and entertainment company Insight Sports. Insight will hold the first MLG Canadian Open game tournament in November at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto, as part of Canada's Gaming and Digital Lifestyle show.

New York - Major League Gaming, a professional video game league, announced on Wednesday its acquisition of GotFrag.com, an online news site that covers competitive gaming.

Washington - Cause, a nonprofit that provides comfort items and organizes recreation events for wounded soldiers, said it teamed with Major League Gaming (MLG) and retailer GameStop to host a video game tournament on Sunday at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. GameStop donated 10 Nintendo Wii consoles, while Major League Gaming provided technical assistance and top pro gamers to help run the tournament. "Recreation and entertainment are vital to the recovery process, and the healthy competition and the social aspects of videogaming are very beneficial to these young men and women," said Cause executive director Barbara Lau.