Dota 2 team PSG.LGD has entered a six-figure global partnership with bookmaker Betway.
The deal includes a jersey and jacket sponsorship, collaborative content creation, and social media promotion.
The exact figure of the deal, nor its duration, has been disclosed at the time of writing. Betway is also partnered with BLAST Pro Series, ESL, Ninjas in Pyjamas, BIG, Invictus Gaming, and Immortals Gaming Club’s brand MIBR.
Sebastien Wasels, Managing Director for Asia Pacific at Paris Saint-Germain commented on the deal: “We are delighted to welcome Betway into the Paris Saint-Germain family. Together, we will be able to offer more exciting content for our global esports audiences and to engage even more closely with the DOTA 2 community.”
PSG.LGD is a joint venture between Chinese organisation LGD Gaming and French football club Paris Saint-Germain that was launched in April 2018. It has secured a number of high placements during its tenure, winning both EPICENTER XL and MDL Changsha Major and placing well at ESL One Birmingham, The Chongqing Major, and, most notably, The International 2018.
Anthony Werkman, CEO of Betway Group also discussed the agreement: “Having already had plenty of success with sponsorship in esports, we are very excited to have signed a new partnership with PSG.LGD. The PSG brand is incredibly strong around the world and their involvement in esports has already been extremely successful, notably their more recent move into DOTA 2 with LGD. The PSG.LGD team has celebrated some early victories on the DOTA 2 circuit and we can’t wait to be part of their future success.”
The International 2019 recently surpassed Epic Games’ Fortnite World Cup’s $30 million (£24.4 million) prize purse, breaking the record for the highest amount of winnings for a single event in esports. PSG.LGD will compete in the upcoming event after finishing sixth in the Dota Pro Circuit.
Esports Insider says: Betway isn’t involved with a whole bunch of teams and tournaments, but it’s clear that it goes big when it does decide to provide support. Betway and NiP have one of the more iconic partnerships in the industry so it’ll be interesting to see if that can be matched for a predominantly-Asian fan base.