Brazilian esports organization FURIA have announced that they are taking control of their apparel production going forward, having reportedly terminated their partnership with sportswear giants Nike.
Nike made their mark in the esports industry in 2019 and early 2020 when they established a host of partnerships across several regions, enabling access to their production expertise and globally known branding to their new partners.
They entered deals with League of Legends competition LPL, Korean org T1, Spanish team Vodafone Giants, and German brand SK Gaming, but their very first partnership with an organization was with FURIA — one of the most prominent team brands in South America.
Now, just two years into their ‘multi-year’ collaboration with Nike, FURIA have revealed that they’re taking matters into their own hands once again when it comes to apparel.
(en) Good news coming soon! pic.twitter.com/Fm0LAZGd0E
— FURIA (@FURIA) August 16, 2021
Following a report from SBJ which claimed the deal was ending, the Brazilian org have confirmed that they’re taking back the reins moving forward.
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While avoiding discussing whether the official agreement is over, FURIA’s announcement explains that they will work with Nike on “special collaborations” in the future as they launch their own apparel line.
The report from SBJ states that the org have hired Rafael Gimenes Pereira, Nike’s former sports marketing manager, to lead the charge on this new venture as their product director.
It’s also reported that the partnership has been closed due to FURIA encountering issues when attempting to make jerseys available for their fans to purchase because Nike “prioritizes large-scale wholesale production runs” over projects that are smaller in size.
The team’s official announcement also confirms that they will be launching an e-commerce platform that will directly host their future products.