American energy drink brand 5-hour Energy has made its first entry into esports Saturday with a sponsorship of multigame organization Detroit Renegades, the brand's parent company Living Essentials announced today. The Renegades are owned by NBA power forward Jonas Jerebko.
As a part of the deal between the two parties, the esports organization's Overwatch team will include the 5-hour Energy name in its team name, i.e. the Detroit Renegades 5-hour Energy Overwatch team, although the sponsorship also extends to the entire Renegades brand.
"This sponsorship by the makers of 5-hour Energy shots epitomizes our shared values of hard work, innovative marketing, and efficient operations," Jerebko said in a press release Saturday. "As our first non-endemic sponsor, being headquartered in Michigan encourages a beneficial relationship to support our organization and players directly."
The Renegades Overwatch roster that will adopt the 5-hour Energy moniker first formed earlier this week on Jan. 3. It consists of members formerly of Immortals, Tempo Storm, and Kingdom Esports, including Liam "Mangachu" Campbell, Christopher "J3sus" Pavloff, Preston "Juv3nile" Dornon, Jeremy "Jer" Santacruz, Jonathon "Sherlockey" Davis and Ricky "manOFsnow" Felty. They are currently leading in the first group stage of NGE and Blizzard Entertainment's Overwatch Winter Premiere.
In September, Jerebko, of the Boston Celtics and formerly of the Detroit Pistons, finalized a deal with esports sportscaster Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles and his partner Chris Badawi to acquire the Renegades brand and its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team. Under the leadership of Jerebko and his staff, the team has expanded into Call of Duty, Super Smash Bros. and now Overwatch.