Press release -
Visa Announces Sponsorship of Europe’s No.1 eSports Team
Las Vegas, 5th January 2017: Hot on the heels of its successful partnership with Formula E, the all-electric street racing series, Visa today continued their support of innovative business with the announcement of an historic sponsorship deal with Europe’s premier eSports team, SK Gaming.
The deal, signed for an initial period of 12 months, will see Visa give financial backing to the Cologne-based team as they aim to continue their dominance of the international rankings and retain their position as world champions of Counterstrike: Global Offensive in 2017.
The deal includes main sponsor on the SK Gaming uniforms, athletes from the team’s roster making appearances at Visa events and Visa payment technology integrated into the SK Gaming merchandise website.
As part of the sponsorship agreement, Visa and SK Gaming will work together to create behind–the-scenes content at events such as the Visa Vegas eRace to be hosted across the team’s social channels, with a cumulative reach of nearly 6 million enthusiastic gaming fans.
The announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas ahead of their title sponsorship of the Visa Vegas eRace, complements the company’s partnership of another pioneering company, Formula E and its expanding venture into the eSports world.
Commenting on the sponsorship, Suzy Brown, Director of Sponsorships and Partnerships at Visa said:
“Pro gaming has added a new dimension to sport, increasing access to people the world over and creating a surge in its popularity. We see huge potential and this deal sees Visa ideally placed to be part of the fast paced growth, and by putting ourselves at the heart of the action we can build affinity with millions of millennial gaming enthusiasts and confirm our position as a global innovator.
We're looking forward to a successful season supporting the next-genathletes at SK Gaming to do what they do best - win.”
Commenting on the sponsorship, Alexander Müller, Managing Director of SK Gaming said:
This partnership is truly a historic step for SK Gaming. The fact that Visa picked us as their partner to enter eSports makes everybody at SK Gaming proud.
For us the partnership is a great start into 2017 and proves that all the hard work our players put in is getting recognized beyond just the gaming world. With their recent partnership with the Formula E, Visa has shown that they are committed to support the sports of the future. I am looking forward to some amazing events for our fans in the upcoming months and I am sure the new season will be even more successful than the last one.
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About Visa Inc.
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information, visit our website (www.visaeurope.com), the Visa Vision blog (vision.visaeurope.com), and @VisaEuropeNews
About SK Gaming
SK Gaming is a leading eSports organization and one of the world’s most recognized brands in competitive video gaming. Founded in 1997, ‚Schroet Kommando‘ has grown from a passionate group of friends into a successful eSports business with offices in Cologne, Germany, and Los Angeles, California.
In the past two decades, SK Gaming managed to win more than 60 major championship titles and millions in prizemoney earnings across a variety of disciplines. SK dominated several eSports titles with the legendary Swedish Counter-Strike team, Quake superstar rapha, the FIFA twins, its long-standing Warcraft III division or the Brazilian Global Offensive heroes of today, among others. Along the way, SK developed some of the most iconic personalities in eSports history and pioneered the industry on multiple frontiers, both as an ambitious competitor and an innovative business.
While proud of its achievements on and off the field, SK Gaming has always valued the international atmosphere among its members. Promoting friendship between players and staff from all ethnic and religious backgrounds since its very first day.
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