Sharks to play as DENDELE following Kings League partnership

<p>Sharks Esports announced on July 20 that the organization will compete as DENDELE CS following a partnership with the Kings League Brazil team DENDELE FC. The team's Counter-Strike operation will now play under the DENDELE tag.</p><h3>Partnership background</h3><p>Kings League is the seven-a-side football format established in 2022 by former football player Gerard Piqué. DENDELE FC is a Brazilian franchise inside that league — and the CS2 partnership represents an unusual crossover between football and esports branding.</p><h3>What changes and what stays the same</h3><p>The active Counter-Strike lineup and coaching staff are unchanged. The DENDELE lineup remains: Victor 'gafolo' Andrade, João 'koala' Pfeffer, Máximo 'maxxkor' Cortina, Daniel 'rdnzao' Monteiro, and Danilo 'doc' Barros, with Hélder 'coachi' Sancho as head coach.</p><h3>Social media rebrand</h3><p>The organization's social media profiles have been renamed to reflect the DENDELE identity, and the team's first competitive appearance under the new banner came at BLAST Bounty Season 2, where they faced FURIA in the opening round.</p><h3>Bounty performance</h3><p>DENDELE made an immediate splash in their debut, upsetting FURIA on the opening day of Stage 1. They then advanced to eliminate paiN through the bracket. They were eventually eliminated in a tightly contested series that nonetheless established the branded rebrand had not disrupted competitive performance.</p><h3>Wider Brazilian scene</h3><p>The rebrand comes at an interesting moment for Brazilian CS. FURIA remain in the top 10, 9z just won the XSE Pro League, MIBR are recovering from academy controversy, and Legacy have signed try. Adding DENDELE — with the marketing weight of a Piqué-backed football franchise — creates an unusual promotional layer for the country's Tier-2 scene.</p>

Sources

• https://www.hltv.org/news/45166/sharks-to-play-as-dendele-following-partnership...
• https://players.com.ua/en/news/rebranding-in-brazilian-counter-strike-sharks-to-...