Top-10 most unusual sponsors in eSports
By: Silvester Johnson
Tags: Top 10, Dota 2, Sponsorship, Esport

Cyber sports are gaining popularity amongst the younger generation at an incredible rate these days. Major multidisciplinary tournaments draw crowds of millions from streaming platforms, and stadiums and eSports arenas are always packed to capacity. With the announcement of a cyber-sports event at the Asian Games in 2022, the interest of the general public in the games is growing and such popularity doesn’t go unnoticed.

We have long been accustomed to the presence of bookmakers and gaming device manufacturers in eSports. But as we know, there is a lot more sponsorship potential than we can imagine, which means there is a lot more sponsorship capability.

So in this article, we take a look at the top-10 most unusual sponsors in eSports

10. Virtus.pro and Megafon

Opening our top is the most logical sponsorship. In 2018, telecom operator Megafon signed a partnership with the cybersport organization Virtus.pro. A special feature of this partnership was the change of the usual colors of the uniforms that fans associated with the team. Despite much discussion and controversy over it, a year later, Virtus.pro and Megafon renewed their partnership.

9. GIRLGAMER Esports Festival and Sephora

Sephora is the largest chain of perfume and cosmetics shops for women. And despite the fact that cybersport is mostly aimed at a male audience, it was a bold move for Sephora.

8. DreamHack and New Belgium Brewing

In traditional sports, alcohol companies as sponsors are no longer new. But in relatively young cybersport, there are still few such companies as sponsors, and more often than not, people are negative about them. But in 2018 DreamHack successfully signed a partnership with New Belgium Brewing. Although there is much controversy, 2018 was still a breakthrough year for betting in cybersport, and as the audience matured this outcome was inevitable.

7. ESL and Mercedes-Benz

In 2017, the ESL Cybersport League announced a partnership with Mercedes-Benz. The car company decided to sponsor several ESL tournaments. Surprisingly, the company decided to prepare special gifts for the most valuable players of the tournaments. The prize for such a title was a €50,000 certificate to buy a car from the showroom. ESL’s tournaments started to draw huge crowds as the MVP of the tournament was chosen by the spectators themselves.

6. ESL and Universal Music Group Europe

Another unique collaboration, this time between ESL and Universal Music Group Europe. Together, the companies have launched Enter Records, a label focused on eSports.

Despite the fact that ESL uses live music at their tournaments, it’s not entirely clear what the label is for.

5. RAMZES666 and Head & Shoulders

The cyber sportsman Roman RAMZES666 Kushnarev starred in a commercial for Head & Shoulders branded shampoos. The commercial was shown only on the internet, but it completely repeated the style of commercials with traditional sports stars on TV.

4. Solo and Gillette

Just after RAMZES666, cyber athlete Alexey Solo Berezin starred in a commercial for Gillette razors. Although previously spotted in match-fixing, Solo has firmly decided to take on his career as a cyber-sportsman and is now one of the most influential players in Dota 2.

3. Ubisoft and Paypal

As part of this collaboration, PayPal will become the official payment platform during the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege tournaments. This is a great indicator for the game, as Ubisoft will have full confidence that this collaboration will have long-term plans.

2. Ninja and Samsung

Most popular streamer Ninja has signed a partnership with major phone and digital manufacturer Samsung. Ninja has also been featured in Samsung’s marketing strategies. A commercial was made with Samsung in which a girl makes a career in cybersport to compete alongside Ninja for the national team.

Team SoloMid and CHIPOTLE

The most unexpected collaboration took place with the cybersports organization Team SoloMid and fast food restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Fornite team promoted a very unconventional sponsor in their gaming house, social media and broadcasts.