Astralis announce PanzerGlass partnership

PanzerGlass, a screen protection provider, has signed a one-year contract with CS:GO team Astralis, it was announced today.

Astralis are known as one of the biggest teams in Counter-Strike. This deal is just the latest in an impressive line of partnerships secured this year, following agreements with Turtle Beach and Audi.

The signing is also the first fruit Astralis have reaped courtesy of Lagardère Sports, a sports marketing agency that has also worked to secure sponsorship deals for Roccat, Unicorns of Love and SK Gaming since entering esports.

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According to the statement on Lagardère’s website, PanzerGlass screen protectors featuring the Astralis logo will represent a “core product” of the cooperation. A custom PanzerGlass card (a collectible which can be traded with others on gaming platform Steam) will fulfill a similar role as a virtual commodity.

Both Astralis and PanzerGlass are originally Danish companies, a vital detail according to Steen Leth-Jørgensen, Executive Director at Lagardère Sports Denmark. “The organisations’ common origins and values create a good basis for the cooperation,” he said of the deal. “In PanzerGlass, Astralis is gaining a strong partner that appeals to the eSports organisation’s fan base with its products and planned social media promotions.” He also stated that Lagardère were looking forward to playing “an active role” in helping develop the partnership, both locally and globally.

“PanzerGlass is the perfect match for a CS:GO team,” said Jordi Roig, CCO of RFRSH Entertainment. RFRSH Entertainment represent Astralis, and recently announced a €7.2m (£6.38m) funding haul.

“We are very focused upon matching Astralis with the right commercial partners to bring value not only to the partner, but also to the team and especially the fans. The real value lies in activation and engagement, and needless to say, we’re very excited to introduce a brand and organization like PanzerGlass, who value and focus on fan activation in the same way we do.”

Head of Global Marketing PanzerGlass Lene Bach offered a glowing appraisal of Astralis heading into their first esports deal. “We are thrilled to enter into a partnership with Astralis, who is amongst the best in the world at what they do,” she said, adding that they “fell in love” with the team. Lene also highlighted the opportunity they saw “to bring retail and end-consumers together” in esports, and described a proactive approach to the relationship.

“We are designing a range of new products, planning fan-hangouts with retail partners, organizing meet n’ greets for fans, coordinating various e-sport related competitions for end-consumers and our retail partners and a lot more. We simply can’t wait to roll these countless initiatives out to our retail partners and end-consumers together with Astralis.”

A special stream on Astralis’s Twitch channel (featuring a CS:GO showdown on a new PanzerGlass map) was released alongside a highlight montage of Astralis players (under the moniker ‘PanzerGlass Moments’) on YouTube as part of the promotion.

Esports Insider says: An interesting match for PanzerGlass, who should see tangible returns from product sales early on. It is also pleasing to hear plans of a proactive approach to the partnership, and we look forward to seeing how PanzerGlass manifest that reinvestment through esports events and competitions.