Xiaomi Opens Esports Account in SEA With PUBG Mobile Champions

The current PUBG Mobile world champions Bigetron Esports have sealed a sponsorship deal with Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi in Indonesia.

Bigetron is one of Indonesia’s most popular esports organisations and  Xiaomi has already released IG posts linked to the sponsorship, including where the esports team can be seen plugging the Redmi Note 9 Pro series. 

The organisation also has presence in other Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, and fields rosters in PUBG Mobile, Free Fire, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Call of Duty: Mobile. 

The sponsorship – reportedly in the US$100k range – is the handset brand’s first esports related deal in Southeast Asia, a region which has seen an esports boom particularly in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia in recent years thanks to booming economies and growing middle-class population. A savvy deal by most accounts as the brand gets to tap one of the largest Gen Z global populations with a budget-friendly outlay.    

Unlike most brands which have tightened their budgets during the pandemic, Xiaomi has ramped up its spending for Q2-20 to US$32m, a figure seven times larger than its three-year quarterly average of US$4.4m+. This is mainly due to its big-ticket deals with Chinese television shows, which have continued to see large viewership during the pandemic.