ELEAGUE
"NEU has served as a one-stop-shop that speaks to the esports community. Just as ELEAGUE was meant to be authentic to the community, NEU did exactly that with merchandise."
Karen Brodkin
President of Business Affairs, IMG Worldwide
WHAT THEY NEEDED
In late 2015 Turner Broadcasting and WME|IMG announced a partnership to create ELEAGUE. Leading the charge of bringing eSports to mainstream audiences in the United States, ELEAGUE is a North American professional video gaming league playing host to 15 teams from all accross the world. With tens of millions of active followers around the world, ELEAGUE sought after NEU to build their brand and reach their followers with a merchandise line.
WHAT WE GAVE THEM
NEU handled every step of the merchandising process. We identified the product line best suited to build the ELEAGUE brand at the Season One Championship, then sourced, designed, and customized the merchandise with just a quick two-week turnaround.
1. NEU worked with existing suppliers and quickly formed relationships with new ones to create unique product lines that were shipped to local printing facilities and customized with ELEAGUE artwork
2. At the same time, NEU built and launched shop.eleague.com, the E-Commerce shop now integrated into ELEAGUE's existing website.
3. NEU traveled to Atlanta with a full staff and set up hardware required to operate point of sale at the Championship broadcast on TBS
4. The remaining inventory from the event was shipped back to NEU's warehousing facilities where NEU has continued to reach followers by fulfilling sales through shop.eleague.com
IMPACT
The event was an enormous success. By the end of the weekend, ELEAGUE had made a 50% margin based on their initial merchandise investment. In the 9 months since launching, event retail revenue has skyrocketed, growing by over 500% from the first major tournament to the most recent one.
50% Margin in Single Weekend.
500% Growth in Event Retail Revenue.