PokerStars has teamed up with Brazilian esports powerhouse FURIA, securing a partnership with the team of former poker professional and current FURIA CEO André Akkari.
FURIA Seals Milestone Deal with PokerStars
The Stars Group’s online card room brand, PokerStars, has announced a sponsorship deal with Brazilian esports outfit FURIA. The deal is intended at younger audiences who will benefit from what the brands described as “unique entertainment opportunities and content.
To celebrate the deal, the companies have revealed a new team of poker streamers who will be joined by FURIA CEO André Akkari who is also a brand ambassador for PokerStars.
Akkari is a perfect match for PokerStars to embark on this partnership, as he is one of the best former professional players in Brazil, and his esports team is consistently dominating the highest esports tiers.
His net worth amounts to $2,673,060 in live games, which is not too impressive, but still constitutes a great result for a country where the poker ecosystem is hardly as well developed as it is in the United States or Europe.
Poker and Esports Synergies to Be Had
Commenting on the partnership, Akkari noted that poker was a part of the very fabric of FURIA and that it was all about making the right decisions:
“It’s all about making optimal decisions at the moment for long-term results. The partnership is a natural step for expansion as we look to move beyond esports.”
-FURIA CEO André Akkari
This is one of the few partnerships between poker brands and an esports unit. One of PokerStars’ former brand ambassadors, Daniel Negreanu, took interest in Hearthstone, a digital collectible card game by Blizzard often played competitively.
PokerStars is joining a long list of brands to have backed the Brazilian esports powerhouse, including AOC, Twitch, Nike, Hyper X, NVidia, Legion by Lenovo and others.
Presently, FURIA competes in several esports genres, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a staple game in Brazil, and the regional League of Legends Championship (CBLoL). Moving forward, FURIA players will sport the PokerStars signage on their jersey sleeves.
FURIA has been consistently winning first places across a number of CS: GO competitions, rated A or S-Tier, with their four most recent showings in 2020 ending up in a victory. FURIA dominated at Intel Extreme Masters, ESL Pro League Season 12: NA, and various DreamHack events.
The team has amassed over $834,420 in total winnings so far.