Sky Broadband Announces New Partnership with David Beckham’s Guild Esports Team

Sky Broadband has continued its innovative approach to marketing and creative campaign with the announcement yesterday of an exclusive new partnership with David Beckham’s Guild esports team. The campaign is the result of a multi-layered creative collaboration between Sky Broadband’s marketing team, Guild Esports Creative Team, Sky Creative, Sky’s in-house creative agency and the largest in-house agency in Europe, Mediacom PLAY, Sky’s long-standing media agency and the team responsible for initially brokering the sponsorship deal, and Global Street Art.  This collaboration has resulted in the creation of a brand new Guild jersey for the ‘22/’23 season as well as an outdoor mural wrapping the Guild HQ building that was brokered by Mediacom PLAY, designed by Sky Creative and painted by Global Street Art.  Finally, Sky Creative has also created a 30-second and 15-second sting for use across social media alongside stills of the mural and talent.  This is Sky’s first major esports partnership. 

Over an initial three-year period, Sky and Guild are committed to supporting and developing the gaming community, with initial focus in three core areas:

• Women in gaming – providing greater opportunities for women in the esports industry via the Guild team Valorant X

• Driving esports performance – leading the way in player performance and best practice coaching developments  

• Engaging audiences – bringing esports to Sky customers with exclusive competitions and experiences across all of Guild's titles

Sky is also Guild’s official HQ, Wi-Fi, Broadband and Network partner for the next three years.

Stephen van Rooyen, EVP & CEO, UK and Europe at Sky, said: “Sky transformed the way you watch TV, now we want to transform the gaming experience. In esports every second counts, so Sky’s ultrafast broadband will be perfect for Guild’s gaming HQ. Speed and reliability, hallmarks of Sky’s service, will give the Guild team and gamers across the nation the edge over the competition.”

Rory Moran, director of global partnerships at Guild Esports, said: “We are incredibly proud to welcome Sky to Guild in their first major partnership in esports. Attracting a global media and entertainment powerhouse like Sky is testament to Guild's successes to date and plans for the future - in a partnership which will continue to drive us to the highest levels of performance in competitive esports. Our collective vision for success, shared values and commitment to driving the esports sector forward makes this one of the most exciting partnerships in global esports.”

Dave Stratton, marketing director for Sky Broadband said: "When we look at broadband use, streaming and gaming are the two that really require the capabilities of ultrafast, full-fibre broadband. Obviously, streaming is very native to Sky – it's a big part of what we do. But also gaming is going to be an increasing part of what we do. We’re reaching out and connecting with a mid-to-hardcore gaming audience in the UK. That's people who play a minimum of an hour a day across console and PC. When we were looking at authentic ways to connect with that audience, esports was one that came to the forefront. Then as soon as you look into esports and Guild are doing with David Beckham, with their mission. It’s super exciting. As soon as we met them, there was a real shared vision across Sky and Guild, a shared culture about what we want to deliver over the course of this deal and going forward."

Perfect for gamers, Sky Broadband Gigafast offers full-fibre speeds of 900 Mb/s and lets you connect more than 120 devices at the same time. Offering lag free gaming through a seamless and reliable connection, Gigafast gives you the freedom to simultaneously stream, work and game online, whether it be via live stream on Twitch, Discord or holding a gaming online party, and lets you download games and buffer large game updates all at the same time, in every room.