Ninja Becomes First Professional Gamer Signed By Adidas

Tyler “Ninja” Belvins is the first professional gamer to be signed by the giant sportswear company Adidas.

This is not the first step into esports territory for Adidas as they already sponsor other teams, but it is the first time they have sponsored an individual. 

Ninja recently made headlines when Twitch accidentally promoted porn on his old channel when he made the jump to Mixer. He left the popular streaming platform Twitch for its Microsoft backed competitor Mixer, where he has almost accumulated almost 2 million followers.

In the past few weeks, Ninja has been seen wearing Adidas clothing to various events, but nothing was made official until he revealed the partnership on his Twitter account.

Adidas recently told Endgadget that they committed to “Supporting creators who show dedication to excelling in their field”. It is clear this is only the first step for the powerhouse brand into the esports world.

Ninja signed on for a multi-year deal and claims Ninja inspired apparel or content is on the way.

On his Mixer stream, he stated:

“I can’t say specifically what is in the works with Adidas but use your imagination”.

Ninja is one of the biggest names in gaming at the moment, and this partnership with Adidas is one of many recent lucrative deals, but it definitely might be one of the biggest.

The king of Fortnite has his own toy line on the way and was recently paid 1 million dollars to stream Apex Legends.

He also recently teamed up with Samsung for their #TeamGalaxy campaign and has had a long-running sponsorship with Red Bull.

Other Sports Companies Are Jumping On The Esports Hype Train

Adidas is not the first clothing company to dive into the esports world. K-Swiss recently put out a limited-edition sneaker for gamers known as the “One-Tap”. Nike has also recently sponsored the professional Counter-Strike team Furia, a Brazilian esports organization. On the other hand, American sports company Champion recently put out an esports clothing line inspired by popular esports organizations.

Large brands are starting to see the potential in the billion-dollar industry known as esports, and this will definitely not be the last time a sporting clothes company sponsors gamers and athletes on the digital battlefield.

It will be exciting to see how this partnership between one of the biggest brands in the world and one of the most popular streamers in the esports scene plays out over the next few years.