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- Tyler "Ninja" Blevins has announced a new apparel deal with Adidas that will attempt to bridge the cultures of gaming and fashion.
- Ninja is the most recognizable professional gamer in the world, with tens of millions of followers on YouTube and Twitch.
- The Adidas deal is the latest in a series of new partnerships for Ninja as he works to diversify his growing brand.
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While plenty of online influencers sell their own branded swag online, the world’s most popular gamer could soon have his own premium clothing line thanks to a partnership with Adidas.
Tyler "Ninja" Blevins announced on Twitter and YouTube Tuesday a new deal with Adidas under the tag line "Time In."
It’s unclear what the partnership with Adidas and Ninja will include, but it’s fair to anticipate that sneakers and clothing matching Ninja’s growing brand will be on the way soon. Other Adidas collaborators include athletes like gold medal swimmer McKenzie Coan and musical artists like Kanye West.
"I remember when people used to ask me whether I could actually make a career out of gaming. I remember when people used to tell me this would never be real," the promotional video’s description reads.
The Adidas deal is just the latest in a string of partnership for Ninja. At the start of August Ninja announced a deal to broadcast exclusively on Microsoft’s Mixer video game streaming platform. The deal pulled Ninja away from Twitch, where he was the most-followed streamer with more than 14 million followers. He’s already earned nearly 2 million followers on Mixer in less than a month.
Read more: Ninja ditching Twitch for Microsoft’s Mixer was a brilliant decision
Last week also saw the release of "Get Good," the first of three books Ninja co-authored in a three-book deal with Penguin Random House. A graphic novel called "Ninja: The Most Dangerous Game" is scheduled for release in December.
While Ninja’s superstar status is closely tied to the success of "Fortnite," he has expressed a desire to diversify his brand and become known for more than just playing "Fortnite." However, "Fortnite" is still the most popular game in the world and Ninja spends the vast majority of his streams playing it. Video game publishers have reportedly paid Ninja as much as $1 million to stream their new releases.
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Source: Business Insider – kwebb@businessinsider.com (Kevin Webb)