Toronto Defiant announces partnership with Canon Canada

OverActive Media has named Canon Canada as the exclusive camera and video recording streaming partner of its Overwatch League franchise Toronto Defiant.

The deal will see Canon’s logo emblazoned on all of Toronto Defiant’s player jerseys for the remainder of this season, and it will include a Canon “Photo of the Day” social media post following all of the franchise’s matches.

The launch of a nationwide contest in search of the Toronto Defiant “Official Home Game Photographer” for next year’s Overwatch League season has also been announced as part of the deal.

Tyler Keenan, VP of Global Partnerships at OverActive Media commented in a release: “An important part of growing our OAM brands will be the ability to tell compelling athlete and team stories, and we are thrilled to have found a partner in Canon to do just that. Starting right away, Canon will become a critical part of our Toronto Defiant journey, outfitting our content team with top-notch equipment so that we can continue to highlight our players. On behalf of all of us in our organization, I want to welcome Canon into our growing OAM family.”

Extending into 2020, the partnership will see Canon become the naming rights holder to a new “Defiant Stream Zone.” Canon is also now the official sponsor of Toronto Defiant’s newly-devised “Behind the Lens” photo and video content series.

Justin Lam, SVP and GM, Imaging Technologies and Communications Group at Canon Canada added: “Canon is thrilled to be partnering with OAM and providing the esports community an opportunity to level up the quality of their video streaming content. With Canon being a world-wide leader in imaging, we felt this was a natural fit for our brand and products to offer gamers the ability to stand-out with their content — be it as a professional gamer or someone streaming from their home on Twitch or YouTube, while using a dedicated Canon Digital SLR or Mirrorless camera.”

Overactive Media recently announced Canadian telecommunications company Bell as its first founding marketing partner, as well as the acquisition of Spanish esports organisation MAD Lions E.C. Additionally, the organisation added Robin Brudner and Wade Oosterman to its Board of Directors at the start of July. 

Esports Insider says: With esports being watched on a global scale, the ability to connect with fans all around the world is key. Bringing Canon Canada on board is a smart move by OAM as it will allow them to provide fans with exclusive pictures, videos, and streaming content. There is no better way to tell stories in esports than with visuals.