Esports partnerships and sponsorships highlights for April 2020

Each and every month, dozens of partnerships and sponsorships are announced in esports. It’s hard to keep track of every development if you don’t follow Esports Insider religiously, but even then, there’s a lot of content to consume.

To make things easier, Esports Insider has hand-picked a selection of the most impressive, surprising, and noteworthy deals that were announced in April 2020.

Vodafone Giants picks up Chupa Chups partnership

Spanish lollipop brand Chupa Chups announced the sponsorship of Vodafone Giants, marking the brand’s first foray into esports.

The partnership is designed to convey a message “full of excitement and fun” to the gaming community, as Chupa Chups seeks to “continue exploring new territories to reach its consumers,” according to a release.

Read the full article here.

Rogue picks up Kia Motors partnership for LEC team

North American organisation Rogue entered a deal with Kia Motors surrounding its European League of Legends team. The one-year partnership will see the LEC side use Kia’s vehicles to travel.

Rogue will utilise celebrities that have invested in its parent company, ReKTGlobal, to produce video content for the partnership. The likes of Imagine Dragons, Steve Aoki, and Nicky Romero were mentioned in a release.

Read the full article here.

Babybel enters esports with Team Heretics deal

Le Groupe Bel’s cheese snack brand Babybel entered the esports industry through a deal with Spanish organisation Team Heretics.

The deal will see Team Heretics and Babybel collaborate on initiatives that promote having healthy habits while gaming, though the specific activations haven’t been disclosed at the time of writing.

Read the full article here.

BMW partners with Cloud9, Fnatic, FunPlus Phoenix, G2 Esports, and T1

German automotive giant BMW partnered with Cloud9, Fnatic, FunPlus Phoenix, G2 Esports, and T1.

The partnerships will consist of content activations across social media, a jersey sponsorship, the sharing of information, and “technology transfer” with BMW’s engineers and designers on both software and hardware. This is seen as a global approach to esports from BMW, with the organisations being based in North America, England, China, Germany, and China.

Read the full article here.

Diabolus signs three-year partnership with Kappa

British organisation Diabolus entered a three-year partnership deal with Italian sportswear brand Kappa.

The deal sees Kappa become the organisation’s official kit and apparel partner until 2023. Kappa will provide kit and training wear to Diabolus’ players, as well as collaborating with the British organisation on lines for both casual and leisure wear.

Read the full article here.

ESL enters licensing agreement with GUNNAR Optiks

Event organiser ESL entered a three-year licensing agreement with gaming glasses manufacturer GUNNAR Optiks.

The deal will see ESL produce its own range of branded glasses over the coming years, starting later in 2020. The deal is said to be global in reach, though specific regions and territories have not been disclosed. Financial terms have not been detailed at the time of release.

Read the full article here.

ESL and DreamHack enter three-year broadcast deal with Twitch

Tournament organisers ESL and DreamHack entered a three-year broadcast partnership with live streaming platform Twitch.

From 2021, the English streams for “major” ESL and DreamHack events will be exclusively broadcast on the platform. The deal sees Twitch named as the global digital media partner of ESL and DreamHack events on a non-exclusive basis in 2020, before exclusivity comes into play through to 2022.

Read the full article here.

100 Thieves finds official audio partner in JBL

North American organisation 100 Thieves appointed American audio company JBL as its official audio partner.

The organisation’s players will be equipped with JBL Quantum products for practising, competing, and streaming. JBL will also act as a jersey sponsor for 100 Thieves – in which a collection of jerseys will be given away to fans through a sweepstake this spring.

Read the full article here.

UKLC banks on Barclays as headline sponsor for summer split

DreamHack announced the return of the UKLC for its summer split, alongside a headline sponsorship from Barclays.

The competition will return on June 14th, with eight teams across the United Kingdom and Ireland competing. The partnership between the UKLC and Barclays was negotiated by Lagardère Sports UK.

Read the full article here.

FaZe Clan partners with Sugar23 to launch FaZe Studios

North American organisation FaZe Clan joined forces with creative platform Sugar23 to launch FaZe Studios.

Created by award-winning producer Michael Sugar, Sugar23 will collaborate with FaZe Clan to create original film and television projects. FaZe Studios is to introduce “culturally impactful” movies and TV shows specifically targeted at the younger demographic.

Read the full article here.

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