ESL and DDB Worldwide Announce Global Partnership

ESL, the world’s largest eSports company, and world leading communications agency DDB, join forces to unlock the vast potential of the eSports and gaming category. The partnership aims to elevate the ESL and DreamHack brands around the world and offer innovative and relevant creative territory to DDB's existing global clients.

ESL’s leading global tournaments and leagues are followed by 300 million passionate fans from around the world, representing 60% of the global eSports audience. The company's recent merger with DreamHack expands their reach to address the 2.8 billion fans of gaming culture globally. DDB recently launched the dedicated gaming agency DDB FTW (For the Win), the world’s first network initiative of its kind on a global scale.

"For the past 20 years, we have been on the forefront of launching leading brands into the eSports sphere, creating game-changing brand partnerships," said Mark Cohen, global SVP brand partnerships at ESL. “Our cooperation with DDB FTW enables us to introduce their clients to our target audience and develop innovative brand strategies together for eSports fans worldwide."

Darko Silajdžić, DDB CEO, global eSports and gaming lead, added: “We are entrusted with being the guardians of our client's brands, so when we bring opportunities like ESL to them, they know there is a meaningful fit with their values and strategy.”

The move also facilitates business design initiatives to reshape business model innovation to explore further potential in existing ESL and DreamHack platforms and discovering new ones, such as creation of new partnership projects aimed to bring additional value to eSports enthusiasts and gamers around the world.

“Gaming culture is deep, diverse, and nuanced. You cannot declare yourself a gamer and think you can speak their language”, said Bernhard Mogk, global SVP business development. “The FTW team has gaming in their DNA, several of them are accomplished eSports competitors. This deep passion is the only way to forge meaningful innovation while respecting the integrity of the culture.”