Audi steps up its esports ambitions

The famous German car manufacturer, Audi, has made further moves to make its presence felt in the esports world by partnering up with two esports teams. The premium car brand recently made the announcement that it will be supporting the growth of the professional esports organisation, FOKUS CLAN, as well as becoming the partner of the FC Ingolstadt esports team.

This move marks an increased desire for Audi to promote its brand name in the competitive gaming realm, and it follows on from other successful partnerships with top European esports teams who specialise in games like NBA2K and Counter Strike Global Offensive. Whilst we have seen many high-level brands partnering up with esports teams, it shows that Audi are particularly keen to get their brand associated with the competitive gaming phenomenon.

What can we expect from Audi’s esports partnership with FOKUS CLAN?

Audi have signed a three-year partnership deal with the esports organisation, FOKUS CLAN. The esports team specialise in digital football titles like FIFA, and whilst the organisation has only been in existence since January 2018, they have already managed to achieve a decent amount of success thanks to the efforts of star German players such as Lukas ‘Sakul’ Vonderheide, Matthias ‘STYLO’ Hietsch and Danny ‘Proownez’ Liepolt. Be sure to check out how FOKUS CLAN progress in the upcoming international FUT Champions Cup in Bucharest this December.

By partnering up with FOKUS CLAN, Audi will be hoping that they can boost their brand visibility amongst a younger demographic. The FOKUS CLAN team members will all wear shirts emblazoned with the famous four-ring logo of Audi, and for six months they will also be joined by a branded Audi Q7 e-tron car that even has an integrated Sony PlayStation 4 for their promotional campaigns.

It’s hoped that this partnership will help FOKUS CLAN in their quest to become the world’s greatest FIFA team, and the financial clout of Audi will certainly help the team gain an extra level of stability that’s sorely lacking in other esports organisations. The partnership came as a result of work by STARK eSports who are a German-based esports agency who aim to team up particularly promising esports teams with high-profile brands, and it’s another example of how the success of esports is leading to plenty of interest from massive companies.

Why are Audi sponsoring Ingolstadt FC’s esports team?

Audi’s esports ambitions didn’t just stop with their sponsoring of FOKUS CLAN, as the car manufacturer also made the announcement that they would be partnering up with Ingolstadt FC’s esports team. As Audi are based in the German city of Ingolstadt, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that they would invest in a local esports team, but by teaming up with the German electronics retailer, Media Markt, to sponsor the organisation, it seems that things are stepping up a gear.

The Ingolstadt FC esports team has already become a force to be reckoned with thanks to the gaming prowess of star players such as Hasan ‘hasoo19’ Eker and Andreas ‘ANDY’ Gube. But Audi are looking to further boost their roster by hosting a scouting event on 9 December at Ingolstadt’s Audi Sportspark. This will see amateur gamers get the chance to join the Ingolstadt FC esports side and compete in national and international FIFA tournaments.

Whilst the Ingolstadt FC esports organisation is relatively new, esports fans will get the chance to see how the team progress when they take part in the highly anticipated Virtual League (VBL) gaming tournament on 1 December.

Audi’s bold moves into esports

Whilst Audi have previously sponsored famous football teams like Bayern Munich, they have shown plenty of enthusiasm for the competitive gaming revolution. The car manufacturer had already provided plenty of input for the Gran Turismo computer game series, but many have been surprised at how quick the brand are to jump on the esports bandwagon.

Audi Denmark created shockwaves in the gaming world when they decided to support the successful CSGO team Astralis, and their German counterpart has also made moves to sponsor the Bayern Ballers Gaming NBA2K esports team. The car brand have stated that these moves have been made as a result of the sheer dynamism of esports that proves to be much more flexible than sponsoring fairly rigid traditional sporting tournaments.

As a result, Audi can take a much more active role in shaping the look and message of esports teams and tournaments, and the influx of big money will undoubtedly boost the increasingly powerful German esports scene. We have already seen how many other high-profile brands such as McDonald’s have taken steps to sponsor massive esports tournament such as the ESL MeisterSchaft, and so Audi’s decision to further their involvement in esports couldn’t be better timed.