Luxury automotive brand BMW has partnered with five notable esports organisations as part of its expansion into the industry. They will be working with Cloud9 once again, and picking up Fnatic, T1, G2 Esports, and FunPlus Phoenix as fresh additions to the family.
While this doesn't mean that each player will receive a shiny new car as part of the deal, BMW will be providing vehicles for them to travel to and from events in style. The partnership will also consist of social media activations, swanky new jerseys, and 'technology transfer' with BMW's engineers and designers on both software and hardware.
“Joining forces with the best teams in the world, we aim to use our design and innovation skills to help shape the discipline in the long term. Our esports involvement is an important milestone providing, for the first time, a new intersectionality with a dynamic and fast-growing community. We consider esports a promising, growing addition to our marketing activities.”
- Jens Thiemer, Senior Vice President Consumer and Brand for BMW
While BMW has dabbled in the esports industry before, this will be the first time that they have done so on an international level. Picking up 5 organisations at once is indeed a big move from BMW, and heralds a bright future where non-endemic brands increasingly are invested into the growing esports industry.
