Blue Star Capital's Guild Esports (GILD ), announced a three-year sponsorship and merchandise deal with Hummel International Sport & Leisure.
The sponsorship portion of the deal is expected to generate up to £700k for Guild over the term of the contract. Hummel has been appointed Guild's "Official Technical Kit Partner", receiving exposure on the front of Guild's team jerseys.
Additionally, Hummel will gain exclusive rights to the production and sale of Guild-branded apparel. Guild apparel will be sold online, including on Hummel's website, and at high street outlets of major retailers in the UK and Ireland. Products are scheduled to go on sale on 1 October 2023.
Guild will receive a "double-digit" share of merchandising revenues sold through Hummel, including performance-linked payments based on sales targets.
Guild estimates the combined value of the sponsorship and merchindising deal at approx. £1m over the 3-year term.
Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, commented: "... This partnership not only brings more sponsorship revenue but also marks a step change in our merchandising efforts, with the potential to enable our fans to buy a premium quality range of Guild-branded products through some of the UK's biggest retailers for the first time. We are proud to have the hummel name on our players' jerseys as they compete across the world's biggest esports tournaments."
Separately, Guild announced that Bitstamp had agreed an early exit from its 3-year £4.5m sponsorship agreement signed in January 2022, and will terminate its contract in January 2024, one year earlier than originally agreed.
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Guild continues to build momentum with this new merchandising deal, valued at up to £1m over a 3-year term. Hummel is a leading sportswear brand and the official supplier for the Danish national football team as well as numerous handball and football teams including Everton and Real Betis. Hummel is no stranger to Esports either, having existing partnerships with global teams Astralis, Red Bull Racing, and Team Vitality.
Guild's contract with Hummel builds on several large sponsorship contracts signed over the past 18 months with Samsung, Coca-Cola, PlayStation, Bitstamp, Razer, and Sky UK. Guild reported total signed sponsorship revenue of £14.6m as of 31 January 2023, including £10.7m of new deals signed in FY22 to 30 September 2022.
As mentioned, Guild announced that Bitstamp had agreed an early exit from its 3-year agreement signed in January 2022, and will terminate its contract in January 2024, one year earlier than originally agreed. The contract, originally valued at £4.5m, is still expected to bring in significant revenue. The early termination will not impact Guild's expected revenue for FY23 ending 30 September 2023.
According to Newzoo, there are now more than 2.7 billion gamers globally, with gaming overtaking social media as the largest consumption of screen time in most developed markets. By 2023, Newzoo predicts the gaming market will be worth US$200.8 billion a year, with the number of players worldwide surpassing the three-billion mark.
With rapidly growing revenues, a growing pipeline of sponsorship deals, and a strong cash position of £1.28m on 24 April 2023, Guild Esports and Blue Star Capital - which owns 2% of Guild alongside a 13% stake in SaaS gaming platform Dynasty Media & Gaming worth £5.6m - are well-positioned to continue benefiting from Esports' momentum.
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