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00 Nation, a Norwegian esports organization, recently announced the signing of a partnership deal with Adidas. The deal with Adidas makes the sportswear brand the franchise’s leading partner. Adidas will also be 00 Nation’s official sports clothing and lifestyle apparel supplier.
The organization, also known as ZeroZero Nation, was acquired in July 2021 by Nordavind. The Sebastian Geurts-owned franchise revealed that it was introduced to Adidas in 2021 through the brand’s collaboration with the Norwegian football club Valerenga. 00 Nation led the charge of the creative work for the announcement of the collaboration. Adidas supplied gear for the club in the 1990s and again between 2011-2015.
The Chief Commercial Officer at 00 Nation, Steffen Willumsen, revealed that the current popularity surge of esports, especially among the younger generation, is one of the major reasons traditional sportswear brands are seeking out organizations to partner with. According to Will, the brand’s decision to collaborate with them clearly showed that the franchise had significantly grown over the past year.
Willumsen said: ”The partnership with Adidas is, without doubt, a landmark partnership for us as it is close to a manifestation of us moving exclusively from esports over to both competitive gaming and lifestyle verticals such as fashion.”
00 Nation’s diversity shift has not come as much of a surprise. The company’s move to rebrand from Nordavind to 00 Nation in September 2021 signaled its desire to go into both the world of esports and that of gaming. The organization is primarily Norwegian but has a strong presence in Brazil, mostly competing with Brazilian rosters in CS:GO and Rainbow Six Siege. They revealed their intention to leave the Rocket League scene earlier this week.
In a press release, the Senior Brand & Omnichannel Activation Manager at Adidas Norge, Oda Fredrikstad, said, “We at Adidas work hard to engage Generation Z through our pillars; sustainability, diversity, inclusion, and credibility. We feel that 00Nation is a natural choice for us in the work of engaging in the future, and we are very much looking forward to it!”
Prior to their deal with Adidas, 00 Nation worked with big-name brands like Lenovo, DNB, and Microsoft XBOX. The Norwegian organization announced that the peripherals brand, Redragon, was made a sponsor of one of its Brazilian teams in a release last month.
Adidas, on the other hand, had worked hand-in-hand with several other brands before its partnership with 00 Nation. The leading sports brand notably worked with Team Vitality in 2017. Adidas got into the esports world as a pioneer due to its position as the first official supplier of the professional esports team. The collaboration of the duo led to the making of annual Adidas product lines in the colors of the team.
Adidas has also worked with G2 Esports. The European organization is one of the leading esports brands and, as of 2020, the eighth most valuable company in esports. The multi-year agreement saw Adidas become the sole clothing provider for G2 and manufacturer of the organization’s official 2021 jersey.
Korean team DWG KIA was also among the sports brand’s previous partners.
