Credit: ESL/Techniker Krankenkasse
Mentioned in this article
- Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) has signed an initial two-year partnership with ESL.
- As the official health partner for this year’s ESL One Hamburg, TK will host various local activations, while also supporting the German ESL Championship.
- The two companies will also co-host the TK University Open, a competition for students that will culminate in a finals event at gamescom 2019.
Health insurance provider TK and ESL 
have partnered on a two-year deal that includes sponsorship of several ESL events in Germany. Financial terms were not disclosed.
TK will be the official health partner of the ESL One Hamburg
Dota 2 competition, where the company is headquartered. It will run various local activations within the city, educating both teams and visitors on combining good dietary habits and physical activity with a gaming lifestyle.
TK will also be the health partner for the ESL Meisterschaft (Championship, in English), a national tournament series for League of Legends , Counter-Strike: Global Offensive , and PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS . Other brands that are partnered with ESL for this series include main sponsor building society Wüstenrot, McDonald’s, Pringles, and Euronics.
The announcement also noted that TK will be a founding partner of the TK University Open. This tournament, aimed at college students, will use the ESL Play tournament platform, and feature a finals event at August’s gamescom trade show in Cologne. In Germany, full-time students can remain on their family’s health insurance plan until the age of 25, or until they start working.
“As more and more people dive into the virtual world, it is up to us as a health insurer to bring up the health aspects of the esports trend in the discussion,” said Jens Baas, CEO of TK, in a statement. “Physical fitness and a balanced diet clearly influence performance in esports: good esports athletes train as much offline as they do online.”
TK states that it has over 10 million policyholders, making it the largest health insurance provider in Germany. The company is the latest insurer in the region to find a promotional avenue within esports. AOK, another health insurance company in Germany, has expanded its partnerships with soccer clubs Schalke 04
and Werder Bremen to also support their esports divisions.
