Real Madrid striker becomes one of the owners of a Brazilian electronic sports club: “I see the positive impact that video games have”

Vinicius Junior, Brazilian striker elected the sixth best player in the world in 2023, became a partner of LOUD, one of the most important and popular electronic sportsteams in Brazil, in an agreement announced this Thursday- fair, without revealing the values ​​involved.

With the deal, Vini Jr. became the owner of LOUD, alongside influencer Bruno “PlayHard” and entrepreneurs Jean Ortega and Matthew Ho – the trio who created the esports organization.

— As a long-time gamer, I see the positive impact that video games have on the lives and identities of young Brazilians. The partnership with LOUD is a perfect fit. Together, we will produce great content and develop several projects, encouraging young people to prioritize their studies and supporting the next generation of athletes, whether on the field or in games — declared Vini Jr. in a press release.

Vini Jr. with the LOUD esports team shirt — Photo: Disclosure/LOUD

According to PlayHard, even though he is a partner, Vini Jr. will not work in the organization’s administration, at least at the beginning. He will act as an ambassador for the team.

Vini joins the company as a partner, but not as an operator. He will not work day to day making decisions within the team, he has no impact on LOUD’s operations. He owns shares in the company, and the idea is to bring more of the role of brand ambassador along with his work. He propagates our brand, participates in our content and takes us to football. This is worth more than anything — said PlayHard in an interview with ge.

The businessman explained that Vini Jr.’s routine as a football player, now at Real Madrid and striker for the Brazilian national team, makes it impossible for him to to participate in the day to day life of LOUD.

— He is a highly competitive guy and lives for high performance. His goal is to be the best and win at what he sets out to do. Of course, commercial partnerships and the use of his image to promote other businesses are part of the routine. But it would be unfeasible, impossible and even asking too much to want him to come to our table, understand everything and give his opinion. Of course, we hope that, in the future, organically, this will happen.

Vini Jr. in the uniform of LOUD, the esports team of which he became a partner — Photo: Reproduction/X

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Vini Jr. highlighted his participation on the LOUD board, in addition to his role as ambassador.

— Signed contract, personalized shirt and shining pendant. I don’t just arrive as an ambassador but also to participate in the board of directors. The plan is to represent the fans and work hard to reach another level! — wrote the player.

Football and esports

In the middle of this year, LOUD set up a society football team, captained by influencers Victor “Coringa” and Ricardo “Piuzinho”, with the production of videos that have garnered millions of views on YouTube.

According to PlayHard, LOUD FUT7 is part of the organization’s strategy of bringing esports closer to football, already thinking about the entry of Vini Jr. This approach had already started before, with videos of matches involving influencers and . hiring of Iran “Bricklayer’s Glove” as an influencer

In December last year, LOUD’s management began mapping football personalities who could become members, with the aim of “bringing in a person who represents Brazil so well, who is such an idol of the new generation and who has similar values ​​to that LOUD wants to preach”, as described by PlayHard. Vini Jr. was the first name considered. That month, LOUD made initial contact with the athlete’s staff.

— They were already connected to games. It was very easy to tell what LOUD is and show the value of the opportunity. They felt very excited — said the team owner.

— Vinicius Junior, for us, is a reference today. He’s a guy who brings a competitiveness and a high-performance mentality that are very similar to what we try to preach at LOUD in our teams. He has values ​​of social causes and combating racism, all of this is very important, in LOUD’s view, for the next generations. For us it made perfect sense. Of course, at first, it seemed like a very big dream, but the truth is that games are already ‘mainstream’.

Vini Jr. poses next to one of the owners and two influencers of LOUD — Photo: Disclosure/LOUD

The agreement, according to PlayHard, was signed about six months ago, but is only being announced now due to the need to reconcile the schedule for the production of the announcement video and the desire for the news not to coincide with the club’s competition calendar. LOUD.

PlayHard and influencers Coringa and João “oCastrin” they traveled to Madrid, Spain, to record alongside Vini Jr., in October.

Player as owner of an esports team

Ambassador of EA SPORTS FC Mobile, football game for mobile phones, and with collaboration with PlayStation, Vini Jr. joins a group ofplayers who also own esports teams, such as Casemiro, Lucas Paquetá and Ronaldinho Gaúcho.

According to PlayHard, LOUD studied all clubs founded or linked to football players to define the best business model with Vini Jr.

— In our partnership, what we want to do is really bring the truth. I don’t want Vini Jr. to be part of something that isn’t natural for him, for his image and for his tastes, in the same way that LOUD won’t come in and appropriate something that is really just from the universe of Vini Jr. and it doesn’t make sense to us. We want to build moments and create experiences and content, mixing what LOUD has in the ecosystem with what Vini has in the ecosystem — said the executive.

He did not want to explain the business model adopted by LOUD, nor reveal the value involved in Vini Jr.’s entry, as these were contractual issues, but highlighted that the player’s staff will also bring business opportunities, such as sponsorships and events, to to LOUD.

— We will end up building our model while the partnership is ongoing, understanding what the interests of both sides are. But, at the end of the day, everything is very beneficial for the growth of esports.

— For me, it only made sense to form a partnership like this with a celebrity, with a big star, if she was really involved and had really bought into the idea of ​​the project, so it wouldn’t just be another partnership that brings names together, makes a splash and , at the end of the day, it doesn’t activate in an interesting way, it doesn’t connect to the community — assessed PlayHard, before talking about the benefits of the business for both sides.

— It’s a victory for both sides. He is a partner in the company, participates in our content, is a brand ambassador and takes this into his bubble, which is a much bigger bubble than ours. At the same time, LOUD has a very strong community of people passionate about games and esports, and we are able to include his work in football even more, with this ‘fan base’ super faithful that we have, and trace conversations that mix the two universes.

Social cause

In addition to business opportunities and content creation, there is another aspect to be greatly explored by LOUD: the Vini Jr. Institute, winner of the Sócrates Prize at Bola de Gold 2023. The social project aims to use football to innovate in the teaching process for children and young people, in collaboration with public schools, and train teachers in anti-racist pedagogical practices.

— He really wants to boost this project, it’s one of his life priorities. For us, it connects very well — said PlayHard.

— We can bring the perspective of games to these kids, how games can be beneficial as a teaching and cognitive training tool and for relationships and friendships in the social part of young people. We talked a lot about this and it is something that we hope, in the coming years, to be able to leverage. The Vini Jr Institute will be a priority for LOUD.

What is LOUD

Founded in 2019, LOUD is one of the main esports organizations in Brazil. It exploded in popularity thanks to the production of content on the internet and Free Fire, a popular cell phone game during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but if he became famous in other sports, such as Valorant and League of Legends.

In recent years, LOUD won three titles in the Brazilian LoL Championship (CBLOL), becoming the only team in history to obtain three consecutive trophies, won two editions of theBrazilian Free Fire League (LBFF) and won theworld title in Valorant Champions 2022.

But LOUD’s success goes far beyond sports performance and is also supported by strong influencers. LOUD has 11.5 million followers on Instagram and 12.5 million subscribers on YouTube, where it has almost 2.5 billion video views.