Singapore-based eSports Team Flash Partners Lagardere To Milk Sponsorship Opportunities

To achieve its commercial ambitions, Team Flash has partnered international marketing agency Lagardere Sports to help the team to develop and sell sponsorship packages to brands.

Speaking to local media, Team Flash founder and CEO, Terence Ting, said, “There are a lot of established properties in the United States and Europe, but it’s still early days in Southeast Asia for the eSports industry. There’s no market leader yet.”

“We see a lot of overlaps between eSports and traditional sports, so I think it’s a good time to enter a partnership with Lagardere, who have an impressive track record in traditional sports marketing.”

Earlier in April, Team Flash’s Singapore FIFA Online team emerged as Asian champions at the finals of EA Champions Cup (EACC) and are currently in Amsterdam to compete for a place at August’s FIFA eWorld Cup Grand Final 2018 in London.

Team Flash currently employs 12 full-time professional gamers across Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam for games like Arena of Valor and Dota 2.

According to market intelligence firm Newzoo, the eSports industry is expected to hit US$905 million (S$1.2 billion) in global revenues this year. Brand investments through sponsorships, advertising and media rights make up 77% of that total. While China, US and Western Europe account for almost 75% of eSports global revenue, Southeast Asia with a population of over 600m has the potential to become one of the fastest growing ones.

Team Flash is Lagardere’s first eSports partner in Asia, although the company has been working with European teams for more than a year.

“If you look at the growth of audiences, live events and prize money, and how teams are professionalising themselves, eSports is slowly coming to mirror traditional sports,” said Deirdre Sim, Lagardere Sports’s Asia director of business development.

“A lot of the commercial streams like ticketing and media rights are the same. So in Southeast Asia, it makes sense to work with up-and-coming teams like Team Flash.”