UK-based esports organisation Guild Esports have announced a new deal with investor David Beckham, as well as a new partnership with Sky UK which will see the Guild London HQ renamed to the Sky Guild Gaming Centre.
The esports org says it’s ‘one of the largest ever esports sponsorships signed in Europe’, and as part of this, Sky will take front and centre of the Guild jersey, and a women’s Rocket League team will be formed.
It’s a three-year global sponsorship agreement that will see Sky become the official premier partner of Guild Esports.
Sources have told Esports News UK the deal is worth £2m a year, which, if true, would make the deal worth £6m overall.
It is also Sky’s first agreement with an esports organisation and becomes effective from today (Monday September 26th 2022). However, it’s not Sky’s first foray into esports. The broadcaster has aired one-off FIFA and CSGO events over the years, including Sky’s broadcast of the CSGO London Major.
Sky has also been appointed as Guild’s official HQ partner, official Wi-Fi and Broadband partner, and the Official Network Provider. Sky’s branding will appear prominently on Guild’s team jersey and will be displayed across both the interior and exterior of the HQ, which will be renamed the Sky Guild Gaming Centre.
“The partnership will allow us to invest not just in player performance, but in our long-stated goal to become a global leader for women in esports, starting with the launch of our all-female Rocket League team, encouraged by the huge success of our Valorant X team.”
Kal Hourd, Guild Esports
Sky’s fibre broadband and Wi-Fi will also drive Guild’s internet and telecoms communications links across the organisation as well as for the Guild Academy and fanbase engagement.
The partnership – which follows Guild’s deal with Coca-Cola in July – will allow Guild and Sky to work together on ‘shared brand values and effect positive change’ in line with three core partnership commitments:
- “Providing greater opportunities for women in the esports industry
- Creating best practice in delivering top esports performance and coaching development
- Delivering exclusive esports competitions for Sky VIP customers across all of Guild’s gaming titles”
The agreement will allow Guild to launch an all-female Rocket League team, building on Guild’s all female Valorant team, Valorant X, signed in September 2021.
“Sky and Guild are committed to fostering greater female participation in gaming and creating an inclusive environment through shared thought leadership, education, promotion and the establishing of viable professional opportunities for women in esports,” they said in a press release.
Guild renegotiates deal with David Beckham
Guild Esports has renegotiated the terms of a five-year agreement with Footwork Productions Ltd.
The original agreement saw Guild procure David Beckham’s services as a brand ambassador in return for 15% of all merchandising and sponsorship revenues, with total minimum guaranteed fees of £15.25m payable in cash instalments over the five-year lifetime of the deal.
Guild says it will now reduce the company’s total minimum payment obligations to Becks by £7.5m over the next two years.
The first two annual payments to Becks have already been paid and the third annual payment for 2022 amounting to £3m will be payable.
Further annual payments of £3.5m and £4m were also due in respect of the fourth and final year of the contract. But as part of the updated agreement, the minimum fee due to Footwork for the fourth and fifth years has been renegotiated. Instead of the remaining guaranteed minimums, Footwork will receive 20% of Guild Esports merchandising and sponsorship revenue, a move that Guild says will ‘significantly reduce the company’s cash requirements and align the fees to its business performance and continued success’.
Beckham will continue to perform ambassadorial services for Guild.
David Beckham, investor in Guild Esports, said: “It’s great that Guild Esports has a fantastic new partner in Sky and I’m pleased to welcome them to the Guild family.”
Malph Minns, MD of Strive Sponsorship, an agency that offers sponsorship, marketing and brand consultancy services, offered his speculative take on the renegotiation on Linkedin, in Adam Fitch’s Hitmarker coverage of the news.
“I suspect the renegotiation is because: 1. There is a chance that there may not be a Guild Esports in one to two years if they had to make the payments they were contracted to. Beckham wouldn’t want his brand associated with a business failure and certainly wouldn’t want to be cited as one of the main reasons for its failure (which I would guess some might suggest given the significant sums he’d be due). If that did happen, it could affect his value across other partnerships.
“2. DB Ventures sold a majority stake to Authentic Brands Group earlier this year. Private Equity will be driving revenue targets hard, and secure long-term revenue (albeit smaller than they thought it might be) is better than risky short-term revenue where the partner could default.
“3. This was a bad deal from the start (from a Guild perspective as it was overpriced). Now it has been realised that the ability to monetise the Beckham brand and esports audience is harder than they thought (as revenues haven’t met targets initially set), and they have tangible evidence of a few years of activity, they have something to use in a re-negotiation.”
Malph added that the deal is risky, that Guild needs to invest in diversifying revenue streams away from sponsorship and merchandise, and build a brand identity that isn’t so reliant on Becks.
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.”
“The partnership will allow us to invest not just in player performance, but in our long-stated goal to become a global leader for women in esports, starting with the launch of our all-female Rocket League team, encouraged by the huge success of our Valorant X team.”
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.”
Guild posted a £5m loss in its recent financial report.
Related article: Why have big esports orgs missed out on 2023 Valorant International Leagues, including UK’s Excel and Guild?
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.
