Blue Star's Guild Esports soars 46% on 3-year sponsorship deal with Sky
[source: Guild Esports]
's ( ) ( ) announced this morning the signing of a landmark 3-year global sponsorship agreement with Sky UK. The deal is Guild's largest to date, and goes into effect today, 26 September 2022.
The contract is one of the largest ever esports sponsorships signed in Europe, and will see Sky become the Official Premier Partner of Guild Esports. It is also Sky's first esports deal.
As part of the partnership, Sky gains exclusive naming rights to Guild's 9,831 sq ft head office in London's Shoreditch. In addition, Sky has been appointed Guild's Official HQ Partner, Official Wi-Fi and Broadband partner, and the Official Network Provider. Sky's branding will appear on Guild's team jerseys and across the interior and exterior of the HQ, now named the Sky Guild Gaming Centre.
Sky's fibre broadband will also drive Guild's internet and telecom links across the organisation.
The companies said they would work together on shared values in line with three core partnership commitments: 1) providing greater opportunities for women in the esports industry, 2) creating best practice in delivering top esports performance and coaching development, and 3) delivering exclusive esports competitions for Sky VIP customers across all of Guild's gaming titles.
Guild said the agreement would allow it to launch an all-female Rocket League team, building on the success of its all-female Valorant team, Valorant X, signed in September 2021.
Kal Hourd, Chief Executive of Guild Esports, said:
"We are incredibly proud to welcome Sky, a media, entertainment and connectivity powerhouse, to the esports sector. We believe this partnership will drive Guild to the highest levels of performance in top-flight esports across the four games where we field our pro-players, as well as to become a global leader in coaching and performance.
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This landmark partnership with Sky not only underlines Guild's strength and value proposition as a top European team organisation to major brands but is also a testament to esports' mass popularity as the fastest growing form of sports entertainment with a young and passionate global audience."
Stephen van Rooyen, EVP & CEO, UK and Europe at Sky, said:
"Sky transformed the way families watch TV, now we want to transform the gaming experience. In esports every second counts, so Sky's full fibre broadband will be perfect for Guild's gaming HQ. Speed and reliability, hallmarks of Sky's broadband service, will give the Guild team and gamers across the nation the edge over the competition."
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This is a landmark contract for Guild Esports. It is the company's eight and largest revenue-generating sponsorship signed since IPO. For context, Guild's largest sponsorship deal until now was Bitstamp, worth US$4.5m, for which Bitstamp received the shoulder position logo on Guild's jersey. The Sky deal is in excess of that number, and Sky is clearly receiving a lot more in the way of naming rights. The Sky deal is payable exclusively in cash for the duration of the contract.
Equally impressive is the fact that this is one of Europe's largest ever esports sponsorships, and the first for media giant Sky. More deals like this are expected in the future as esports continues to gain momentum. It is in fact the fastest growing form of sports entertainment. By 2023, Newzoo predicts the gaming market will be worth US$200.8bn a year, with the number of players worldwide surpassing the three-billion mark.
Investors cheered the partnership, sending Guild shares up 46% today and Blue Star shares up 7%. Blue Star is a technology investment company focused on esports, blockchain, and payments, that has a 5.95% interest in Guild as of 30 June 2022.
Among Guild's other major sponsors are Samsung, Coca-Cola, PlayStation, and Razer. The company boasted total signed sponsorship revenue of £8.56m on 30 June, which has increased substantially since then. The company said it was in advanced stages of negotiation with around 30 tier-1 brands, helped by the success of its esports teams, which have been winning trophies in major tournaments this year.
In its 1H update, Guild reported a tripling of revenue to £1.1m, reflecting this growth in sponsorship income. That drove a 6-fold increase in gross profit to £710,000, although pre-tax losses widened by 15% as the company made long-term investments in teams and content creation, expected to drive future growth. Guild also said that ongoing improvements to the efficiency of its operations were expected to lead to a 20% decrease in costs.
With its revenues multiplying, a growing pipeline of sponsorship deals, and a strong cash position, Guild Esports and Blue Star are well-positioned to continue benefiting from esports' rapid growth.
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