This year’s Rocket League World Championship shattered viewership records — and Sargento was along for the ride.
In the lead-up to last month’s annual Rocket League championship, which ran between September 15-20, the cheese brand announced a partnership deal with Blast, the company operating the Rocket League World Championship, to become the event’s official Snack Kit Partner.
Sargento’s partnership with the Rocket League World Championship spanned both digital and physical inventory, with Sargento’s Balanced Breaks snack kits featured across the tournament’s broadcast and live experience at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The partnership demonstrated how tournament organizers like Blast create opportunities for advertisers to connect with prominent games like Rocket League by sponsoring their esports leagues and tournaments, rather than pursuing a direct commercial relationship with the makers of the games themselves.
In an interview with GamesBeat in July 2026, Blast reported 40-percent year-over-year revenue growth in 2026, with company representatives crediting Blast’s robust sponsorship and partnership business as an area of particularly strong growth. In addition to Sargento, Blast works with brand sponsors like Michelin, Progressive, and Polymarket.
Sargento’s bid to lean into esports through the Rocket League World Championship allowed the brand to tap into an unprecedented amount of audience interest in Rocket League. This year’s edition of the Rocket League World Championship achieved a peak concurrent viewership count of over 720,000, according to the data platform Esports Charts — the highest-ever viewership for a Rocket League esports event.
To learn more about why Sargento teamed up with the 2026 Rocket League World Championship, GamesBeat reached out to Sargento general manager of consumer products Jeremy Schellin for a Q&A. Here are some of the key takeaways.
GamesBeat: What convinced Sargento to expand into an esports sponsorship at this moment?
Jeremy Schellin: We’ve had some limited experience in gaming, but this partnership gives us an opportunity to build on that in a way that is authentic to the role we play in consumers’ lives.
We know that gaming represents a key snacking occasion for fans. Through The Rocket League World Championship, we saw a unique opportunity to introduce Sargento Balanced Breaks snack kits pairing real, natural cheese with other delicious ingredients – to a highly engaged audience in a way that feels authentic to the experience. Whether it’s the players competing, or the fans enjoying the event in Dallas or watching from home, snacks are a part of that experience.
GamesBeat: Why is Sargento partnering with the Rocket League Championship, rather than other forms of gaming or competition inventory?
Schellin: The Rocket League World Championship is a particularly strong fit because of its broad audience appeal, cultural relevance, and natural tie-in to snacking. The event gives us the opportunity to reach fans across the broadcast, digital channels and live event, while also creating moments that feel relevant to how people experience gaming.
There’s also a connection between the pace of Rocket League and the idea of taking a moment to reset between matches. That creates a platform for Sargento Balanced Breaks snack kits that goes beyond traditional sponsorship visibility. We can show up in those in-between moments with a high-quality snack that fits naturally into the experience.
Ultimately, we were looking for a partnership where the audience, the occasion and the product came together naturally, and Rocket League offered that combination.
GamesBeat: How was Sargento involved in the creative strategy behind this partnership?
Schellin: Sargento worked closely with BLAST to make sure the creative feels true to the Rocket League community while still delivering against what we want to communicate about Sargento Balanced Breaks snack kits — that it pairs real, natural cheese from a family-owned company with other delicious ingredients to create a high-quality snack.
We wanted to make sure the partnership is more than simply putting the Sargento brand name and logo around the event. From the beginning, our focus was on finding meaningful moments within the experience where snacking and Sargento Balanced Breaks snack kits could play a role.
That led to the idea of exploring how competitors relax and reset between matches, which gave us a natural way to incorporate the product through branded broadcast segments and player-led social content. We’re also extending that thinking into the fan experience at the arena.
GamesBeat: What form will the in-person activations at the arena take? Are in-person activations a growing focus for Sargento’s marketing strategy?
Schellin: At the arena, fans will have opportunities to interact with Sargento Balanced Breaks snack kits through a digital activation, and competitors will have access to exclusive sampling opportunities, giving them a chance to experience the product for themselves while they’re at the event. Today, consumers are hungry for opportunities to engage with brands in real life, and these experiences give us a chance to meet them where they are while creating meaningful connections.