UK esports organisation Excel Esports have today officially announced their partnership with well-known UK sports fashion retailer JD Sports.
The JD logo now features on the centre of Excel Esports’ new jersey, with Beyond, EE, HyperX and the LEC logo also featuring on it.
As part of the partnership, the JD logo will also be featured across all of Excel’s rosters which include FIFA, Valorant and Fortnite, and will take centre stage as part of Excel’s League of Legends first team competing in the LEC.
JD will also have exclusive naming rights to Excel’s academy roster which competes in the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC) and will be known going forward as JDXL. The team has been known as JDXL all this week in the NLC, however an announcement had not been made until today.
“We are thrilled to announce JD Sports as our new partner. JD Sports is a pioneer within the sports retail industry, and we believe our partnership will unite gaming and sports communities on a level never seen before.”
Wouter Sleijffers, Excel Esports
So what does this mean for Excel’s partnership with BT, which was first announced two years ago?
BT previously featured on the front of Excel’s jerseys, and the League of Legends academy team was up until this year known as BTXL.
BT’s logo has now been removed from the Excel Esports website, which currently features the JD, EE, HyperX and Beyond logos.
However, Esports News UK understands that Excel’s deal with BT may not have ended as such – we’ll update this article with any developments on this as they happen.
Excel Esports CEO Wouter Sleijffers commented on today’s announcement: “We are thrilled to announce JD Sports as our new partner. JD Sports is a pioneer within the sports retail industry, and we believe our partnership will unite gaming and sports communities on a level never seen before.
“We are looking forward to fans and sports fashion enthusiasts immersing themselves in the incredible experiences this partnership will deliver.”
Peter Cowgill, executive chairman of JD Sports, added: “We are excited to announce our partnership with Excel Esports. Through this partnership, JD Sports will embrace casual and competitive esports audiences across some of the biggest global gaming titles, whilst also delivering world-first digital and virtual experiences.“
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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.
