Santos will face Palmeiras in the Copa Libertadores final this Saturday, on January 30th after winning 3-0 on aggregate against Boca Juniors. Now, the Brazilian club rich in history has announced a one-off partnership with video game Fortnite respectively Epic Games for the upcoming final. Copa Libertadores is the South American equivalent to the Champions League.
This was announced shortly after Epic Games revealed cheap purchasable in game items with licenses of big football clubs from all around the world such as AC Milan, Juventus FC or Inter Milan.
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Fortnite To Be On Front Of Santos' Kit During Copa Libertadores Final
Fortnite will be the first video game related sponsor on a football shirt since Xbox on the Seattle Sounders jerseys (main sponsor until 2018). The logo of the popular video game is implemented in a very 'friendly' way. It is mainly white with a black border fitting in perfectly into Santos' colour scheme of black and white.
Sponsor Epic Games is a video game and software developer founded in 1991. Since then, a lot has changed and the company is mainly known for their video game Fortnite today, but they are trying to establish themselves as a digital distribution service like Valve's Steam by dishing out free video games to first gain a user base.
“The relationship between the football and e-Sports industries is becoming increasingly sophisticated and with different formats: clubs participating in modalities with competitive teams, licensing of club brands within games and sponsorships in uniforms using football as a platform for global brands and valuable games. Santos FC actively participates in all of these formats and understands such initiatives to be strategic ”, points out Marcelo Frazão, Fish marketing executive.
“An important initiative, not only commercially, but positioning with the club's approach to be a global brand and among the most important for young audiences”, says Andrés Rueda, president of Santos FC.
What do you think of this partnership? Do you like the logo on the Santos kit? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.