Red jackets, music… and chicken wings: Fnatic & Team Dignitas make some smart new deals

Fnatic and Team Dignitas, two separate esports powerhouses with roots in the UK, have made some interesting new firsts in esports this week.
First up, Fnatic has signed an exclusive music partnership with must streaming service Deezer.
As part of the deal, Fnatic team members will be able to connect with their fans by sharing their personal playlists across Europe, North America and Asia.
Fnatic’s press release claims that more than 80% of gamers play games while listening to music.
“As a majority of Fnatic fans already listen to music while gaming, Deezer is the perfect community platform for gamers who want to combine their love of gaming as well as their favorite songs, giving music lovers an opportunity to also discover their Flow,” says Ralph Pighin, VP of Central & Eastern Europe at Deezer.
“Our partnership enables us to enhance the experience of Fnatic and esports fans alike and will see us breaking new grounds in esports partnerships,” added Wouter Sleijffers, Fnatic CEO.
Secondly, Fnatic did some really smart marketing at Worlds 2017, kitting their League of Legends players out in a special one-off red Fnatic jackets.
Of course, something different like this will immediately catch the eyes of fans, and Fnatic have conveniently made the jackets available to purchase – but only in a 48-hour period.
The jackets are priced at  €69.99 each and come with a player name on the back as standard.
Fnatic have always been hot with their merchandising and clothing – check out what they had to say to Esports News UK recently about their strategy in esports merchandise and the care they’re taking in the licensing and branding industry.
Finally, and perhaps the most unusual of the three deals mentioned in this article, Team Dignitas are getting serious with chicken wings.
First Misfits’ UK jungler Maxlore got caught up in a chicken nuggets meme, now Dig are feeling like chicken tonight too.
Team Dignitas have partnered with US restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings, who are known for their buffalo-style chicken wings.
Through the partnership, Buffalo Wild Wings becomes the ‘Official Hangout for Team Dignitas’ and receives prominent logo placement on the sleeve of Team Dignitas jerseys, player appearances at restaurants, exclusive content featuring players and branding on monthly Team Dignitas live streams on Twitch and Facebook.
The partnership will kick off with the first ‘Buffalo Wild Wings Stream of the Month’ when Team Dignitas streamer Elle “Ellektrikk” Lockyer conducts an all-day livestream on Twitch on October 18 from 10.30am to 7pm EST.
Buffalo Wild Wings and Team Dignitas will also present a 1v1 amateur League of Legends tournament at TwitchCon this weekend and host an online amateur tournament in the coming months.
Winner winner chicken dinner indeed.

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.