Esports Insider partners with CSM to bring more brands into esports

Esports Insider is pleased to announce a partnership with integrated marketing and brand experience agency CSM Sport and Entertainment.

The partnership is a signal of CSM’s commitment to esports which has been a key focus for the agency over the last 12 months, having made several specialist hires and client wins in this space.

Esports Insider and CSM joining forces makes for a highly-complementary skillset, a shared vision with lofty ambitions to provide industry-leading services to brands and rightsholders within esports. This unique proposition will provide end-to-end services to guide brands and rightsholders through the world of esports with a key focus on strategic and commercial consultancy. 

CSM has worked with the likes of Lucozade, Verizon, Mercedes-AMG, Amazon Prime, MLB, and Diet Coke, whilst via its ESI Connect arm, Esports Insider helped to deliver the collaboration between Team Vitality and HKS for the organisation’s exceptional HQ and flagship store in central Paris: the V.Hive. CSM has offices in London, New York City, Berlin, Paris, Moscow, Dubai, and plenty more, meaning this collaboration will most certainly be worldwide. 

Sam Cooke, Co-founder and Managing Director at Esports Insider, spoke on the alliance: “Esports is often a daunting industry to step into for a brand or a rights holder so we are excited to use our collective knowledge and expertise to guide them on this journey. CSM is one of the leading sport and entertainment agencies in the world and share our passion and drive in pushing the esports industry forwards. This partnership was the perfect fit for us and we can’t wait to get started.”

Debbie Scott-Bowden, Account Director and Esports Lead at CSM Sport and Entertainment, stated:”As an agency, we are always looking to ‘Pursue Extraordinary’ and working with ESI will provide us with a differentiated offering for our clients. There is a clear shared vision and ambition too with CSM and ESI which is another reason for why the partnership seemed like such a good fit. I worked with Sam while at Twickenham Stadium and I knew that he (& ESI) would add so much and we are extremely excited about the potential this partnership brings to our clients.”

James Gallagher-Powell, Corporate Strategy Director and Esports Lead for CSM Sport and Entertainment, added: “We all believed that there was a gap in the market for a commercial service offering for esports that combined deep industry knowledge with extensive delivery experience and global reach. Together, we believe that CSM and ESI can offer this – we will provide strategic and commercial consultancy, connect brands with the most appropriate esports rights holders and help bring to life esports partnerships through bespoke and authentic activations.”

The partnership was officially unveiled at the ESI Digital Summit, a two-day online esports business conference that featured 20+ sessions and well over 500 virtual attendees.