The Esports Advocate has learned that South Korean esports organization T1 Entertainment & Sports (T1) has signed a three-year deal with sports lifestyle fashion brand Goal Studio, the global strategic partner of UK soccer news website Goal.com. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
Goal joins Nike as an additional apparel partner. Nike signed a four-year exclusive apparel partnership with T1 in January of 2020 that included all players and teams, including the organization’s League of Legends Korea (LCK) squad. In addition, T1 said at the time that it would also work with Nike to open a new training facility at the organization’s headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, and help to create physical fitness training programs.
In a statement to TEA on Saturday, T1 CEO Joe Marsh said that the Nike deal would continue, and that the global sportswear company is still a proud partner of the organization, but will now serve as the official footwear and fitness partner:
“Goal Studio is T1’s new apparel partner for all of our teams (three-year deal),” Marsh said in a statement. “We are excited about collaborating with Goal Studio as we will have a lot of creative flexibility and be able to create custom uniforms for milestone events (like Faker’s birthday) and even have home/away uniforms in the future).
“Nike is still a proud partner of T1. They are now the official footwear and fitness partner of T1. Our League and Valorant players will be wearing all the latest Nike sneakers for the next few years and we will still be collaborating with Nike trainers to ensure we are healthy and fit for competition.”
This news marks the second high-profile shift for Nike in esports this week: On Tuesday, TEA reported that Nike would no longer be the official apparel partner of the League of Legends Pro League—Tencent and Riot Games’ official league for League of Legends esports in Mainland China—and was being replaced by Li-Ning, China’s biggest sports apparel maker.
Also, in August of 2021, Brazilian esports organization FURIA terminated its contract with Nike after only two years, opting instead to create its own apparel line. Shortly thereafter, the organization hired former Nike (Brazil) employee Rafael Gimenes Pereira to manage the new endeavor.
Apparently, Nike also still sees the value in partnering with high-profile esports players. In October it announced a partnership with retired Chinese League of Legends player Jian “Uzi” Ziha (he retired as a professional LoL player in 2020 due to chronic health issues). Apart from Zihao, Nike also partnered with European star player Martin “Rekkles” Larsson in August of 2022.
Editor’s note: South Korean esports reporter Yong Woo “kenzi” Kim provided information used in this report. This story, its headline, and sub-head were updated on Saturday, Jan. 7, with new information and a comment from Joe Marsh.