U.S. nourishment company Herbalife Nutrition announced that it signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Chinese Overwatch League team Guangzhou Charge, becoming its title sponsor, as well as the title partner. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Herbalife Nutrition will provide nutrition support and health care advice to players. Mu Guo, president at Herbalife Nutrition China said in a release that esports has become a part of the company’s sports sponsorship blueprint in China.
Herbalife Nutrition was founded in 1980, and its Chinese headquarters is based in Shanghai. The company was the official nutrition partner of the 2019 International Champions Cup (ICC).
Among Western fans, the Charge received significant criticism for the partnership due to Herbalife’s multi-level marketing business model. Herbalife was the focus of an episode of Jon Oliver’s late-night comedy news program Last Week Tonight on HBO, which raised concerns about the similarities between multi-level marketing and the archetypal pyramid scheme. The Esports Observer has reached out to Guangzhou Charge regarding this backlash.
We’re excited to announce Herbalife Nutrition as our primary sponsor and official nutrition partner for the next 3 years! Let’s #ChargeFoward together toward high performance through improved nutrition and a healthy active lifestyle! pic.twitter.com/GFfrn1DgH4
— GuangzhouCharge (@GZCharge) July 11, 2020
Recently, more and more Chinese esports organizations have started to focus on the health care of the professional player. In June, China’s most recognized League of Legends player Jian “Uzi” Zihao announced his retirement due to ongoing health issues. The same month, Chinese esports organization Edward Gaming (EDG) established an esports health management center for its players.
Trent Murray contributed to this piece.
