AUDI SPONSOR FOKUS CLAN & SCHANZER ESPORTS

Prestigious German car maker Audi has formed partnerships with German FIFA teams FOKUS CLAN and Schanzer Esports.

Under the terms of the Audi-FOKUS CLAN deal, which was made with the involvement of STARK eSports, the team’s apparel and social channels will feature Audi branding, with future activations also in the pipeline.

Managing Director of STARK eSports, Dennis Andreas Nirtl, commented:

“We want to continue the impressive development of esports and are delighted to have gained Audi as a strong partner… We are proud to have Audi on board as a very experienced player in sponsorship and are convinced that we can deliver sustainable added value for all those involved.”

Schanzer Esports, which is the eSports division of FC Ingolstadt 04, entered a deal with Audi in cooperation with Media Markt – an electronics reseller. As part of the Virtual Bundesliga, the club will compete in the VBL Club Championship from January next year.

Managing Director of Sports & Finance at FC Ingolstadt 04, Franz Spitzauer, explained:

“The subject of eSports has been occupying us for a while. After very positive talks with Audi and the media market, we are now starting into this exciting new business area. We look forward to the new challenges in this area. However, we deal exclusively with the topic of football in the world of digital gaming.”

This won’t be Audi’s first foray into eSports, as they joined forces with RFRSH Entertainment’s CS:GO brand, Astralis, back in January of 2017, and then went on to also sponsor Bayern Ballers Gaming in the NBA 2K League.

Head of Sports Marketing at Audi, Thomas Glas, talked about the brand’s relationship with eSports, saying:

“Esports opens up new and exciting marketing opportunities for us. Esports is dynamic and far more flexible than many traditional sports. This enables us to shape many things and actively participate in their further development.

“The young and, above all, digital and technology-savvy target group with an enormous reach and strong global networking is interesting. This makes a commitment to esports particularly attractive for Audi and ideally complements our digital communication strategy.”

FOKUS CLAN have been busy on the commercial front lately, securing another well-known partner in the form of Funny-Frisch crisps just a few weeks ago (read more here).