Eyewear designer company Oakley has turned its sights to the esports industry, signing a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Envy Gaming.
With this agreement, the sunglasses designer will have its name included on the official jerseys of all Envy Gaming teams, including Optic Halo and Valorant and their Call of Duty league team, Optic Texas. Envy merged with Optic last year.
Additionally, Oakley will be the official eyewear sponsor for all of Envy’s teams, which means that all the company’s players will be wearing prescription lenses designed by Oakley themselves during their competitive matches. This will also include the first eyewear created for adult gamers called NxtLvl.
“The world of esports is continuing to grow and it’s key that we continue to level up our commitment to the world of gaming,” Corey Hill, head of global sports marketing at Oakley, said in a statement. “New athletes are showing up in the scene every day and we pride ourselves in making sure we provide advanced eyewear for gamers of every level. Teaming up with a partner like Envy Gaming allows Oakley to reach talent and build on our offerings in the space.”
Even though they have a number of sponsorship deals within the sports industry, this is the first time that Oakley make an investment within the world of esports. This new partnership deal will help them reach the difficult to approach market group of 18-to-35 year old people, who are the ones most interested in the world of esports.
Reports show that the audience for the industry is still growing, with the U.S. alone experiencing a 11.5 percent increase in viewership compared to last year.
Oakley themselves appeared to be warming up to the idea of jumping into the world of esports for a while now. The company’s name appeared as a sponsor on the Optic team jersey during the Call of Duty League 2022 Major I tournament back in March and on the Optic’s Valorant team jersey in the Valorant Champions Tour 2022: Stage 1 championship held in Iceland.
As if that wasn’t proof enough of their intentions, last year the company signed Optic team member Seth “Scump” Abner as the first and only professional esports player to their roster of Team Oakley sponsored athletes.
