NODWIN Gaming launches NODWIN Sports, appoints Gurbaksh Singh Virdi to lead

NEW DELHI: NODWIN Gaming is stepping into mainstream sport with the launch of NODWIN Sports, a new vertical focused on building sports properties, driving mass participation and creating commercial opportunities across the Global South.

The new division will bring NODWIN Gaming’s experience in youth entertainment and high-engagement properties into mainstream sport. It will develop new-age sports and active fitness competitions, mass-participation lifestyle properties and partnerships with sports federations, governing bodies, rights holders and brands.

NODWIN Sports will operate across four areas: new-age sports and mass-participation intellectual properties, sports advisory and governing body engagement, strategic partnerships and commercial alliances, and white-label execution and operations. Its remit will cover everything from creating original sports properties and developing commercial strategies to production and on-ground execution.

Leading the new vertical is sports marketing executive Gurbaksh Singh Virdi, who joins as vice president, NODWIN Sports. He brings experience spanning athlete management, intellectual property creation, commercial partnerships and multi-sport operations.

Virdi’s career includes leadership roles at Red Bull, U Sports, Puma, Cornerstone and Adidas India. At Red Bull, he pioneered Red Bull Campus Cricket and worked with athletes across disciplines. At U Sports, he led operations for U Mumba in the Pro Kabaddi League and established the U Dream Football programme with Tata Trusts in Germany in partnership with Bundesliga clubs Borussia Dortmund and TSG Hoffenheim. He also set up the company’s esports vertical.

At Puma, Virdi expanded the team sports portfolio, while at Cornerstone he led athlete intellectual property development, including running initiatives for Virat Kohli’s One8 brand, and launched its esports division. Most recently, as sports marketing lead at Adidas India, he handled marketing across cricket, running, training, football and motorsport, working on partnerships with the BCCI, Indian Olympic Association and other major sporting properties.

A three-time 70.3 Ironman finisher, Virdi will now focus on creating sporting properties that combine competition, participation, entertainment, content and youth culture.

NODWIN Gaming co-founder and managing director Akshat Rathee said the new division will help the company build properties around how younger audiences participate in, follow and engage with sport.

NODWIN Sports will leverage the parent company’s capabilities in content, production, partnerships and community engagement, supporting sports properties from concept and commercial strategy through to execution.

The division will also draw on NODWIN Gaming’s portfolio of youth-focused properties, including the BGMI Masters Series, Comic Con India, NH7 Weekender and VCSA. The company believes this experience across gaming, music, lifestyle and youth culture can help it create sports properties that appeal to a younger generation.

With NODWIN Sports, the company is widening its play beyond esports, targeting the broader sports ecosystem through new properties, partnerships and participation-led experiences across India and the Global South.