Cloud9 Welcomes Red Bull As Official Sponsorship Partner
American esports standout Cloud9 has named Red Bull as its official team sponsor. The leading energy drink provider will serve as the organization’s official sponsorship partner and put its logo on the team’s jerseys.
Helping bring the game to the next level
Announced earlier this week, the partnership will see Red Bull providing player support. Focusing on fitness training, sleep analysis, and other programs aims to help the players maintain healthy lifestyles and deliver top performances.
The partnership also means Cloud9 players will call the energy drink company’s High-Performance Athlete Program their new home. The 270-square-meter space inside the company’s North American headquarters in Santa Monica, California offers a cinema, recording studio, and dedicated gaming room.
Here, a team of performance experts helps athletes optimize their training via extensive equipment. The two companies’ social teams will additionally collaborate to create what they call “epic video content.”
Finally, the newly designed jersey, featuring Red Bull’s logo, was revealed this weekend during the League of Legends tournament LCS Summer Split in Europe.
The new partnership is not the first time Red Bull and Cloud9 have cooperated. In 2015, the two partnered on a sponsorship deal, but had to drop the collaboration shortly thereafter due to a conflict of interest. At the time, Riot Games‘ rules for on sponsorship dynamics saw Red Bull drop the Cloud9 sponsorship deal.
Red Bull betting big on esports
The Austrian energy drink producer is a big player in a broad variety of extreme sports. As esports grew into a gigantic market with millions of supporters, Red Bull took notice.
Within the last couple years, Red Bull showed increased interest. Besides sponsorship deals, the company runs a few of its own events in the esports scene. Red Bull Conquest and Red Bull Proving Grounds, the fighting game tournaments, are two examples. Then there’s Red Bull Heroicks, a Dota 2 tournament, which took place in a castle in Germany.
By partnering with Cloud9, an organization that competes in a variety of major titles including League of Legends, CS:GO, Overwatch, PUBG, Fortnite, and others, Red Bull is again positioning itself atop the esports world.