It has been announced that UMG Media Corp has entered ‘into a framework agreement for the acquisition of all rights and shares of Meta Threads LLC‘. 
Meta Threads is an esports focused apparel and merchandise company, and this acquisition is evidence of UMG’s plans in esports. UMG is a Canadian company which, to date, has been mostly focused on events and tournament organisation.
UMG will ‘focus efforts on developing an exceptional line of apparel and accessory related products’.
Dave Antony, CEO of UMG, said of the decision: “UMG continues to strive to bring excellence to gamers around the globe. We want to continue to serve our community with the highest quality standards, whether it relates to our platform, live events, the recent app launch, and now in hard goods. When we started looking at partnerships for our branded gear, Meta Threads kept coming to the forefront as a company we wanted to work with. Moving to acquire Meta Threads was a direction that all parties felt would be beneficial for both brands.”
Steve Nabi, President of Meta Threads added: “Our company’s mission is to provide innovative design and aesthetic for gamers. We continually work to deliver quality gaming lifestyle products and we believe the UMG partnership will only strengthen our ability to execute our vision. Our team is looking toward the future and is enthusiastic to be working with UMG.”
Meta Threads is based in LA, and ‘blends street style with gaming culture’. We spoke to their Lead Designer about their entrance into esports, and his history designing paintball jerseys, back in July 2017. You can read that interview here. The company has a range of both clothing and accessories that aim to be both stylish and practical.
The esports apparel space is set to become increasingly hotly contested with the recent introduction of H4X, the brand which is set to become the ‘official apparel supplier’ of a number of ESL and Dreamhack events.
Esports Insider says: Nice to see UMG expanding its reach and trying something different. This will of course give them a whole new realm of options for their on-site store, and at their events too. We like a lot of the Meta Threads lines too so it’s a thumbs up from us.