Future FC, the new FIFA brand from the Astralis Group, has announced German car manufacturer Audi as its first commercial partner.

The Audi logo will feature on the soon-to-be-released official Future FC jersey, and both companies will collaborate on content and fan engagement through social media.

Audi has been involved with Astralis for some time, becoming sponsor of the Danish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team in February 2017, and becoming principal partner of its League of Legends franchise, Origen, in January 2019.

Discussing the deal CCO and Co-founder of Astralis Group, Jakob Lund Kristensen, said:

“Since the launch of the first agreement, we have had a close dialogue with Audi about new opportunities to develop our team and exploit the strong community of value. Not only did Audi join Astralis from the start, they were also an important part of our launch of Origen, and now we are taking the step further into a world that in many ways fits even better with the shared values.

“From day one our ambition with the Astralis Group has been to bridge the gap between esports and a wider mainstream audience, and here FIFA has gradually evolved into a product that has a wide reach across traditional sports and esports.

“That is why it has been natural for us to join FIFA, and with our approach to performance optimization, healthy lifestyle and brand building, we see a huge potential in an area we can call Audi’s home field. In the world of football, Audi is one of the strongest partner brands of all, and now we are building on the common strengths,”

While Head of Marketing at Audi Denmark, Morten Friis-Olsen, added:

“Future FC is a new and exciting chapter in Audi’s collaboration with the Astralis Group, where we naturally build on the explosive development and digital opportunities that esports has already given us.

“The collaboration on Future FC based on the FIFA game and all its users and fans is extremely relevant and attractive to Audi, as sports and especially football partnerships are inherent in our DNA – and not least as an extension of our ambition to be an active and attractive part of an innovative world exposed to fantastic experiences.”

Future FC was formed last month after a restructuring of RFRSH Entertainment saw the formation of Astralis Group to run Astralis, Origen and Future FC. The move was in response to increasing pressure to avoid a conflict of interest, as RFRSH Entertainment was in the position of owning both Astralis and the BLAST Pro Series (read more).

Audi also has other esports deals in its sponsorship portfolio, supporting German FIFA teams FOKUS CLAN and Schanzer Esports (read more).

AYO.NEWS says:

Audi is obviously happy with the value it is getting from its Astralis Group partnership, which is great news, as support from such a prestigious brand carries some series weight (not to mention the sponsorship money!). It seems like the big three German luxury car brands, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have all realised esports is the future.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.