Think about your dream esports team. Who would be on it? Which players, coaches, and games would you choose? Who would you want to sponsor your team? Okay, so sponsors may not be as exciting as picking the ultimate pro player lineup but they’re not as boring as you think – there are some really cool esports sponsors out there!
A flashy deal
One of the coolest (and biggest!) esports sponsorship deals out there was made between several esports teams and BMW in 2019. Most deals of the sort cover things like logos on jerseys and the like… and while this deal involved that too, the teams got something pretty cool out of it – a team car.
Five teams across the globe – Cloud9, Fnatic, FunPlus Phoenix, G2 Esports and T1 Entertainment & Sports each received, among other things, a brand-new BMW model for the team to use – complete with team-specific decals and stickers on the cars.
Each team received a different model, as shown in the promo images, each with a unique design as well. The title for the whole deal was "United in rivalry" – while not as interesting as the cars, it’s also pretty neat that the auto company deliberately decided to sponsor rivaling organizations!
Drinking a deal
The deal between Ninja and Red Bull was both fun and quite unique – after collaborating for some time, the two got together and signed a new deal late last year. This deal involved something quite a lot of people would probably quite like to have – Ninja got his own Red Bull can design.
The can in question was only available in the US, but who wouldn’t like to see themselves on a drink can? The marketing around the deal definitely proved that Red Bull is one of the coolest esports sponsors – it featured a ‘bucket list’ for Ninja, complete with the point ‘Be sponsored by Red Bull’ and ‘Get my own can’ – crossed off, of course.
Dressing up right
Another deal with pretty cool esports sponsors was made between Nike and the League of Legends Pro League. Unsurprisingly, it covered their clothes – the deal (valued at an incredible $7.4 million, by the way) covered not only players, but also coaches, referees, and even managers wearing nothing but Nike gear on the game days!
A similar deal was made between Puma and team Cloud9 – the sports apparel giant provides the apparel on game days for the Cloud9 LCS team. That’ll go nicely with their new BMW car – talk about cool esports sponsors!
Loving esports
Another pretty fun deal with one of the coolest esports sponsors out there was signed by Gen.G. Their partner? Popular dating site Bumble. The app is notoriously unique and allows women to control the narrative of the online dating process by prompting them to send the first message – a change from the usual expectation that the man should make the first move.
It’s only fair then, that the deal between these two organizations was female-centric as well – it involved creating an all-female Fortnite team that was to play under the name Team Bumble. As far as cool esports sponsors go, Bumble is definitely up there!
Driving Miss Esports
A Moscow taxi service by the name of Citymobile proved themselves among the ranks of the coolest esports sponsors when, in 2018, they signed a sponsorship deal for the Epic Esports Events Counter-Strike tournament EPICENTER.
Along with standard stuff like a booth at the event, the cab company also provided premium cars (and drivers!) for competitors to use during the duration of the event! Discounts were offered to regular event attendees as well, making the deal beneficial even to the fans attending the event – not something a lot of esports sponsors can claim!
Who provides money for esports teams definitely matters and seeing these orgs put their funds where their mouth is means a better, brighter future for us esports fans.
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