Wolves teams up with American esports brand Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses will now feature the Wolves logo on its team uniforms. A splash of Wolves' gold will also be added to the EG logo.

The partnership with Seattle-based Evil Geniuses follows investment in the esports organisation, which was founded in 1999, by Wolves' Chinese owners Fosun.

Evil Geniuses – valued at US $255 million, is one of the most decorated in esports, winning 86 national and 102 international championship titles and US $24 million in prizes.

It currently competes in four of the world’s biggest esports titles – League of Legends, Dota 2, CSGO and Valorant – and its team feature some of the world’s most talented and followed players from the Americas, Asia and Europe.

The Evil Geniuses content team reached more than 42 million people during last year’s competitive season.

Wolves and Fosun's Chinese team will also help power Evil Geniuses' expansion into the Asian market, where the popularity of esports has exploded in recent years. Evil Geniuses will get training facilities in China, including a training base for the League of Legends world championship, should the team qualify for the event in Shenzhen later this year.

Both teams will also work together to create English language content, sponsorship opportunities and joint branded merchandise which will be shared with fans in the coming months.

Wolves’ general manager of marketing and commercial growth Russell Jones said: “This is an incredibly exciting partnership for Wolves and Wolves Esports. We have very lofty ambitions in esports, and this partnership allows us to learn from the very best.

“We’ll be pooling resources across analysis and performance as well as marketing and commercial to service and grow both organizations. We are looking forward to working together on a number of fan engagement initiatives over the next few months and when travel routes allow, we will be encouraging our teams to visit and learn from their respective colleagues.”

Evil Geniuses’ chief executive Nicole LaPointe Jameson said: “We are thrilled to partner with Wolves, a storied football club and strong sports and entertainment brand that aligns with our values and mission. This deal will help power Evil Geniuses’ expansion into the Asian markets while also providing new capital to sign more world-class players and grow into new esport titles.”