The third iteration of the ESI Forum Series (#ESIForum) is set to take place next week on the evening of Thursday September 28th (6-10pm) at Fnatic’s Bunkr.
The topic of discussion this time will be esports and apparel. An expert panel, which will include Fnatic’s Head of Marketing Benoit Pagotto and excel Esports Co-Founder Kieran Holmes-Darby with more to be announced, will talk attendees through the opportunities in this space and the how it stands right now.
This will include everything from the design of jerseys, partnerships and collaborations, to streetwear lines and merchandising opportunities more widely. This is something in which Fnatic are well versed; they’ve a number of collaborations with designers, more reportedly incoming and an extensive line of streetwear from t-shirts to jumpers, caps and more.
The topic of this Forum comes at a perfect time for the industry with the recent announcement of the deal between Astralis and menswear brand JACK & JONES.
We’ve also seen Adidas enter the space via arrangements with Team Vitality and North, but these two aside we’ve seen next to nothing in terms of major sportswear and fashion brands doing anything in esports. Just last week it was announced that Team Vitality’s jersey is set to be one of a handful included in FIFA 18, so we can expect this should generate some hype.
With the increasing awareness of esports, the growing audiences and viewership figures across multiple titles, better and bigger attended events, as well as its inclusion in various formats on major television networks across the world, it’s inevitable that sportswear and fashion brands will soon wake up and move in.
It’ll also be interesting to see how the current endemic esports apparel companies fare when this occurs, and this will prove a further point of discussion.
This Forum will follow a similar format to those beforehand though this time there’ll be an esports showroom showcasing a number of leading brands’ apparel that currently operate in the space.
Below you can watch the Official Video of the August ESI Forum which discussed the convergence of esports and betting:
The event gets underway at 6pm on Thursday 28th. Attendees can expect ample networking, a thorough understanding of the opportunities in esports and apparel, from monetisation opportunities to design, and how to go about making a move in it. There’ll be a chance for a Q&A, and, as always, plenty of networking with drinks and (London’s best) pizza on tap. We’ll also be hosting a tournament for the more competitive amongst you.
To secure your attendance, please follow this link. Tickets are available at £15 (+VAT) and this includes food and all your drinks!
Feel free to message [email protected] with any questions or queries