ESL has announced an extension of its partnership with logistics company DHL. The two will continue to collaborate on the ESL One esports tournament series, with the latter being named as the sponsor and official logistics partner.
ESL extends DHL partnership
“With this partnership, we are very successfully addressing a young target group that can hardly be reached through traditional marketing channels,” commented Arjan Sissing, Head of Brand Marketing at Deutsche Post DHL Group, in a release. “As digital natives, esports fans naturally have a strong affinity for e-commerce, and for us as a logistics operator, e-commerce is a mainstay of our business. However, they are attractive to us not only as customers, but also as potential employees.”
The ESL Academy will also continue as part of this partnership. This program offers a path to the professional Dota 2 esports scene for young amateur talent. It was jointly established by DHL, ESL, and statistics platform Dotabuff Reach in 2019.
From a pool of competitors that qualified through online events, coaches will select Academy talent at the upcoming ESL One tournament in Los Angeles. These players will then be placed into teams for a series of DHL boot camps, which will take place alongside the same schedule used by the ESL One tournaments.
Esports tournament logistics
“We host competitions across the globe and deliver first-class entertainment to millions of esports fans, both at the tournaments on-site and via our live broadcasts,” added Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL. “Organizing these tournaments is a major undertaking and very challenging, so we’re happy to have DHL on our team. They bring the logistics expertise we need and share our passion for esports.”
The partnership between the two brands first started in 2018. DHL will handle all logistics for competitions during 2020, with events in Birmingham, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, and Cologne. With over 10,000 spectators at each event, the logistics provider will be in charge of transporting stage equipment, gaming chairs, monitors, and more across over 31,000 kilometers of distance.
