Puma and Cloud9 Team Up for Esports Apparel Collection
The esports industry continues its rapid growth, and that fact is nothing new. There’s a ton of money involved, from event sponsors and organizers to team-branding and player-branding deals. However, most sponsorship deals are endemic, meaning they create products and/or services directly related to the esports industry. Brands such as Acer, Asus, Razer, SteelSeries, and Alienware are all closely related to esports/gaming, and as such, are considered as endemic brands.
In recent months, though, there’s been an explosion of non-endemic brands testing the waters and entering the growing esports industry. Non-endemic brands are brands that are not closely related to the industry they’re expanding to. The perfect example in esports’ ecosphere would be the likes of Adidas and Nike, apparel brands who’ve just recently made their way into esports through notable sponsorship deals with either popular streamers (Adidas and Ninja) or prominent esports leagues (Nike and LPL).
Now, a third player is coming into the mix – Puma, a German international company, known for its athletic and casual apparel, released a brand-new ad displaying their first official esports partnership with Cloud9. Yep, Puma esports apparel is a brand-new (pun intended) thing, and you can check out their ad right below:
PUMA x @Cloud9 finished loading. ?⏳ Cop at https://t.co/a2bo9w0W9S pic.twitter.com/f8lORBBTOP
— PUMA (@PUMA) October 10, 2019
New Puma Esports Apparel
Puma esports venture marks a different path than its predecessors. As stated above, both Adidas and Nike entered the esports scene long before Puma, and they both took different routes in terms of their approach to the market. Adidas went with a prominent figure in the esports world, one of (if not the) most popular streamers, while Nike went with a whole League of Legends league in the biggest esports market in Asia (China).
Puma’s esports sponsorship, however, relies on a single organization, Cloud9. The NA-based esports organization is participating in numerous esports titles and enjoying massive popularity throughout the world, so Puma’s presence ought to be close, perhaps even on par, with its direct competitors, Nike and Adidas.
What do you guys think about popular apparel brands entering the esports market? Or better yet, what do you guys think about this Puma esports deal with Cloud9? Feel free to express your opinion down in the comments section.
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