BMW Forges Branding Alliance with 5 Professional eSports Teams

As eSports continue to expand their reach and seem to be booming in popularity, more and more industries are beginning to recognize the value in getting attached to professional competitive gaming. Automobile manufacturers were among the first non-gaming brands to realize the eSports potential with new names like BMW joining in the race.

BMW partners up with five pro gamer organizations

In what is arguably some of the most exciting gaming news for those interested in how car brands are getting involved in eSports, BMW has revealed in April 2020 that it would establish a formidable stronghold in the industry. The automobile manufacturer announced that it would partner up with five leading eSports organizations with professional teams active in the League of Legends eSports franchise. These include Cloud 9 from the US, Fnatic from the UK, and G2 Esports from Germany, along with South Korea-based T1 and Funplus Phoenix China.

BMW has officially dubbed this move as a branding alliance, explaining that the collaboration will revolve around showcasing BMW products and the eSports footprint of the teams involved. As such, the teams will be using BMW cars with their teams logo in order to attend gaming events, while they will also feature the BMW logo on their official team uniforms. They will also work together will BMW to produce mutual content and both sides will devote time and effort in promoting social media engagement particularly using relevant hashtags.

South Korea's T1 a prominent BMW partner - but no shooter games involved

This puts a truly global spin on BMWs presence in the scene, since these partnerships span five major countries across three continents. The partnership with South Koreas T1 is regarded as crucial, given the prominent role of the countrys gaming community in the creation of the eSports industry. eSports has its origins in South Korea, where licensing of professional gamers has been taking place as early as 2000. Thanks to the technologically advanced infrastructure and the early development of affordable broadband access across Asian countries, South Korea already had 10 tournaments in 2000. Ten years later, in 2010, these had become 260 and the number is constantly rising. The growth of this area is also reflected in the betting markets due to the number of eSports betting sites in 2020 that offer a wide range of options across multiple games such as LoL and Counter-Strike.



Reaching out to the South Korea eSports audience is key for any new brand attempting to enter the race. One major detail is that the deal struck by BMW does not extend to shooter games, like the Counter-Strike series. The T1 representative has clarified that the partnership will extend mostly to titles such as LoL, Dota 2, Hearthstone, and Super Smash Bros, with the emphasis placed on the first. T1 is also expected to help create content that will be focused on cars, while one of the prominent social media engagement avenues will be highlighting unity across the five competing teams with hashtags such as UnitedinRivalry playing a central role in the campaign.

BMW has been active as an eSports sponsor since 2017, acting as an official partner of the European LoL Championship. It also launched its own simulation racing event last year. Yet this new deal opens up a new stream of opportunities for the car manufacturer, as BMW seems set on consolidating its position within the eSports market.