Brazilian esports organisation FURIA has revealed that its latest partnership is with multinational sportswear brand Nike.
According to a release from FURIA, the partnership will activate across the next “few years,” commencing with the debut of their newest uniforms this week at ESL One: Cologne.
Though Nike has been involved in a number of crossovers with esports in the last year alone – such as partnering with LPL and an endorsement deal with Jian “Uzi” Zihao – this deal with FURIA marks its first direct partnership with an organisation.
Jaime Pádua F. Filho, CEO of FURIA commented on the multi-year deal: “This contract with Nike is something [pioneering] in esports’ world and adds credibility and sustainability to our project. With Nike’s support, we’ll go on with our job of making dreams come true and forming great athletes by hard work, talent and persistence. We’ve succeeded in CS:GO with this formula and we hope to reapply it to other modalities.”
Founded in August 2017 through competitive Counter-Strike, the organisation is comparatively younger than a number of other high profile teams. Although the organisation also has presence in Dota 2 and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the recent successes of its CS:GO team has thrust them into the limelight.
The current CS:GO season has been FURIA’s best yet: placing among the top four at DreamHack Masters Dallas as well as a grand finals appearance at the ECS Season 7 Finals. Because of the latter, they surpassed MIBR in HLTV’s global rankings – earning themselves the title of Brazil’s best CS:GO team. The team is currently ranked seventh in the world.
Esports Insider says: In the world of competitive Counter-Strike, FURIA is a team synonymous with excitement and explosiveness; mix in an incredibly impassioned Brazilian fan base and you have a recipe for distinction. All things considered, it’s almost a no-brainer as to why a juggernaut brand like Nike would want to get involved with this up-and-coming organisation.
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