Home » The Spark’s Railgun Anime Partnership Is Pushing OWL Merchandise Boundaries
Spark Railgun

The Spark’s Railgun Anime Partnership Is Pushing OWL Merchandise Boundaries

Publish Date: January 29, 2021

The anime hype continues for the Hangzhou Spark in 2021.

In a video posted on January 7, Hangzhou’s new Team Supervisor, Huang “Xiaogui” Tsung-Yu, guides viewers through their new team facility: MoXian Castle. Included in this video is talk of exclusive merchandise through the Spark’s A Certain Scientific Railgun anime collaboration.


As our Hangzhou facility is finally complete, let us follow supervisor Xiaogui for a house tour! ✧(≖ ◡ ≖✿) #HangzhouSpark
🎁 We are giving away 5 “Hangzhou Spark x A Certain Scientific Railgun T” shirts and 25×200 OWL tokens! (^・ω・^ ) To enter:
🔔Follow
🎉Comment
🔁Retweet pic.twitter.com/dwRG0vX2Lj

— Hangzhou Spark (@Hangzhou_Spark) January 7, 2021


SPARKxRAILGUN Merchandise Announcement

Xiaogui explains that for the past two years the Spark’s team house was a “tiny house in the suburbs of Los Angeles”. Now, the team hosts a massive, flashy training centre that looks straight out of an anime. Spark practices, management and content production will be conducted in the building moving forward.

The more poignant aspect of the tour though is the reveal that more “SPARKxRAILGUN” works are on the way. Back on August 27, 2020, the Hangzhou Spark announced their partnership with anime series: A Certain Scientific Railgun. The announcement was that Railgun character, Misaka Mikoto, would be spiritually joining the team as a mascot going into the 2020 Overwatch League Playoffs.

Beyond that, however, nothing else was known about the collaboration. Now with this house tour video, fans know more about the future of the joint effort. Misaka herself is even featured in many camera shots throughout the video. These vary from a Misaka can to the multiple SPARKxRAILGUN t-shirts.


Spark Railgun

Image via Bilibili


When talking about the shirts, Xiaogui explains that “In the near future, [we] will see more exciting content brand products…”.

On top of that, a Misaka figure can be seen wearing a pink Spark uniform at 2:03 of the video. This means that the SPARKxRAILGUN partnership extends beyond just apparel. The products however are only available domestically on Bilibili.com, according to the anime insider Anime Trending, but the team is doing a worldwide giveaway featuring these shirts currently.


Spark Railgun

Image via Bilibili


How This Affects The Rest Of The Teams

The Railgun merchandise breaks many barriers in the OWL space and, for many, this reveal is exciting for those who are hoping that the OWL facilitates team-unique products. Team-created products are usually standard amongst other esports but is clamped down due to the league’s merchandise partner: Fanatics. Collaborations like the one with Railgun could encourage teams to go beyond that of the clean but cookie-cutter, officially licensed OWL Fanatics gear.

An allowance of this would also open up the possibility for other teams to find their niche and create a unique narrative around their partnerships and culture. As long as this continues to be approved by the OWL higher-ups, teams in APAC, as well as North America, have the opportunity to create team traditions and symbols beyond the status quo.

How This Affects The Rest Of The Teams League

From an OWL corporate perspective, the Railgun partnership has only helped the league for the better. The partnership has landed Hangzhou a marketing award at the 2020 Sports Industry Awards Asia. Accolades like this one inherently connects back to the OWL. This shows that a marketing campaign like this creates value for a team from a lesser-known area of China/Asia. An internationally recognized league is something the Overwatch League has strived for since its inception. 

By allowing this, the Overwatch League gains mainstream recognition while also letting teams like Hangzhou find markets beyond the game and esport that could bring more people to tune in. If the OWL and its partners continue to be lenient with situations like this, it could greatly benefit the league without them even moving a single muscle.


With the power of Overwatch and Anime on our side, the “Hangzhou Spark x ‘A Certain Scientific Railgun T’” collab won the “best sport marketing case” award in 2020 Chinese Sports Industry Awards! (≧∇≦) Thank you all for the support! #HangzhouSpark pic.twitter.com/WDMHS2hdTZ

— Hangzhou Spark (@Hangzhou_Spark) January 6, 2021


The Spark, in particular, have always immersed themselves in anime culture. This continued partnership with a popular anime franchise has given a chance for Hangzhou to create material and products specific to them, above just the city and given name. Traditional sports teams have thrived on this aspect. From the “cheeseheads” of the Green Bay Packers’ fan base or the Detroit Red Wings’ octopus tradition: there is always something beyond a team name that a sports organization can build upon. 

And the Spark are currently at the very forefront of that.


Spark Railgun

Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images


Going Forward…

Moving into 2021, the organization has doubled down on its Railgun collaboration. As the team continues to work on SPARKxRAILGUN products, it will be exciting to see how far the team takes it. The prospects of this vary from Railgun fully integrated into the brand/uniforms or possibly Hangzhou will feature in an anime one day. The future of OWL partnerships and merchandise/marketing opportunities is starting to ramp up.

 


Stay Connected

Follow Jordan on Twitter: @JRDNGRCA for everything Hangzhou Spark and OWL-related!

Featured Image Courtesy of the Hangzhou Spark.

Follow The Game Haus for more sports and esports coverage.
Twitter: TGH Esports
Facebook: The Game Haus

“From Our Haus to Yours”

Leave A Reply

* required
Read Also
The Very OFFICIAL Overwatch 2 April Fools Patch Notes
The Overwatch 2 April Fools Patch Notes are here and they bring ...
Spark Announce Their 2022 Coaching Staff, Including The Return of Former Tank Legend Jin-hyuk “Miro” Gong
On the team's 3rd anniversary as a franchise, the Hangzhou Spark announced ...
The Unusual Timeline of 2021 Hangzhou Spark Coaching Situation
The Spark have had an intriguing coaching lineup in 2021, to say ...
Sentinels of Light Event Guide
League of Legends' newest event has arrived, the Sentinels of Light event ...
2021 NFL Draft Big Board
The 2021 NFL Draft is fast approaching and teams are zeroing in ...
The Game Haus aims to bring unbiased, factually sound opinions to audiences across a range of mediums that are not readily accessible in the day-to-day media outlets. We cover the latest news in Gaming, Call of Duty, CS:GO, League of Legends, Dota 2, Fighting Games, NBA 2K, Halo, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Pokemon, Rocket League, Smite, Starcraft II, Fantasy Sports, MLS, EPL, MLB, NASCAR, NBA, NCAAB, NCAAF, NFL, NHL, and PGA.


Next to our unbiased coverage for esports and sports, have a look at our iGaming content. If you are looking for the most recommended Esports Betting Sites or Best Sports Betting Sites, look no further. We also cover the Best Sweepstakes Casinos in our free 2 play section and have a closer look at the Best DFS Sites out there. If you are looking for some real money options, check how we ranked the Best Online Casinos.


Follow us on Social Media for updates!
Sports: Facebook | Twitter
Esports: Facebook | Twitter

Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.

×
Your Promo Code:
The bonus offer of was already opened in an additional window. If not, you can open it also by clicking the following link:
Play now