Being a fifth wheel has never felt so good: BMW is further expanding its esports involvement by officially partnering up with five big esports organizations: Cloud 9, Fnatic, FunPLus Phoenix, G2 Esports and T1.
Jens Thiemer, BMW’s head of marketing, made an announcement early in the year that he intends to further BMW’s esports sponsoring: “We will promptly enter into partnerships with five global top teams in the field of esports". Roughly three months later, the time has come: Via Twitter, BMW announced that, from now on, they will sponsor Cloud 9, Fnatic, FunPlus Phoenix, G2 Esports and T1 – a large-scale and direct partnership.
Passion drives us to get better in life. BMW and five of the most successful esports teams have joined forces, to show that we're #UnitedInRivalry. #UnitedAtHome pic.twitter.com/jYNQzVgzif
— BMW (@BMW) April 16, 2020
New deal = custom wheels and more
The sponsoring for LoL, however, is being taken to unprecedented heights.
While BMW has dabbled in esports in the past, they are now doing more than just jerseys and emblems:
The esports organizations will be supported in several areas such as content creation, but they will also get a custom brand car, ensuring that the players are getting to their next tournaments in style. This is not a particularly novel idea though, as a Fnatic fan already branded his BMW in black & yellow back in 2015.
.@FnaticYellOwStR checking out the #FNATIC car! pic.twitter.com/LLvJcB7WiR
— FNATIC (@FNATIC) May 28, 2015
What do the organizations have to do in return? Naturally, they will have the BMW emblem on their teams’ jerseys. More than that though, they will also play up their respective rivalries:
Ahead of every major event and tournament, the teams are meant to challenge each other, using the hashtag #unitedinrivalry. Via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, WeChat and other streaming platforms they will be posting at full throttle. We’re interested to see what that’s gonna look like. It’s not like the gaming scene is a stranger to talking a little smack.
Until we get our first glimpse at the new hashtags in action, check out news on the latest esports transfers here and, for all League fans, here’s a first peek at the LoL FPX championship skins.