Swedish esports organisation Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) has announced a partnership with Italian football club Juventus.
As part of this partnership, NIP’s FC 25 esports player Olle ‘Ollelito’ Arbin will represent Juventus in a series of competitions and activations.
This deal is similar to the partnership struck between Al-Nassr and Mkers, in which Mkers player João Afonso ‘Jafonso’ Vasconcelos agreed to represent the Saudi football club in EA FC. According to a press release, Ollelito will be representing Juventus in the eSerie A Goleador and the eSupercup.
Juventus itself is also no stranger to esports, having launched an apparel capsule with esports organisation OpTic earlier this year. The football club also partnered with the Astralis Group in 2019 to give the esports company control of Juventus’ esports ventures.
Fabio Fusco, Head of Partnerships and Sales at NIP Group, took to LinkedIn to talk about the partnership: “As someone with a background in football, this project is especially meaningful to me. It’s a convergence of two worlds I’ve always believed have incredible potential together – grateful to have contributed to making it happen!
“Thank you to everyone involved at Juventus for your trust and collaboration. I can’t wait to see what we’ll accomplish in the months ahead! All the best of luck to Ollelito as he takes on this new exciting challenge!”
Another football club that has also been active in the EA FC space is Ipswich Town, which recently announced its esports team that will be competing in the ePremier League.
Outside of EA FC, there is a long list of football clubs involved in esports. This includes Inter Milan partnering with Mkers to create a community-focused esports series of non-football esport titles and French club PSG creating a joint-venture Rainbow Six roster with TALON Esports.
