Gambling heavyweight BetWay has signed a six-figure sponsorship deal with the professional eSports team Ninjas in Pyjamas. Look out for Ninjas in Pyjamas team members Patrik Lindberg, Christopher Alesund, Richard Landstrom, Adam Friberg and Jacob Mourujarvi striking a pose for press photographs in BetWay kit going forward. BetWay has negotiated to get full player access and will also get content usage rights and onsite branding at the team’s gaming crib.
“As sponsors of West Ham United of the Premier League in England, we constantly engage with supporters to give them insight into the club they wouldn’t get anywhere else,” said Betway’s Anthony Werkman in a statement. “It’s with these ideals, values and mission in mind that we partnered with NiP. They have a huge fan base all over the world and we are tremendously excited to provide exclusive, behind the scenes content on a regular basis as we follow the team’s quest to be the best.”
Swedish based Ninjas in Pyjamas have come a long way since it was set up in 2000. Late last year, the eSports team had to fire its then CEO Per Lilliefelth following reports that it had failed to pay an estimated 340,000 euros in prize money and in-game sticker sales to its players. Lilliefelth was replaced by Hicham Chahine, who previously acted as the chairman of the board for the eSports team.
After undergoing the “necessary” structural changes, Ninjas in Pyjamas went on to win several premiere events, including the recently held StarSeries Season 2 finals in September.
Now, the eSports team made the record books as it is the first organisation to land a headline sponsorship deal with a UK whale bookmaker. BetWay, which launched an eSports microsite in 2015, was one of several traditional bookmakers that have embraced eSports in recent years. BetWay says it has increased its eSports trading and content teams.