Tyler “Ninja” Blevins teamed up with Adidas to create a signature sneaker for the first time, and the entire run sold out in under an hour. Earlier this year, Ninja left his extremely popular Twitch channel to join Mixer, a risky move that nonetheless seems to have paid off for the streamer.
Whether on Twitch or Mixer, Ninja has stayed decidedly in the limelight this year. He set a new record for consecutive duo wins in Fortnite this fall, and later had the chance to play a round of Fortnite with Mark Hamill during the game’s Winterfest event. Of course, not all the attention he got was positive. He caught plenty of heat for implying that NFL kickers have an easy job, then doubling down and seeming to say that playing Fortnite was more difficult. In any case, even the more negative attention he’s gotten lately doesn’t compare to the backlash after Ninja said he wouldn’t stream games with women last year.
After Ninja left Twitch, his manager and wife Jessica Blevins revealed that the decision was partially to pursue a contract that would allow him to “grow his brand” and seek new sponsors outside of gaming. That seems to be bearing fruit now, as Ninja tweeted out that the adult size shoes of his first Adidas collaboration sold out in just 40 minutes. The shoes feature a dark blue and yellow color scheme to match the streamer’s logo, with the words “Time In” on one side and “Ninja” on the other. When Adidas first announced its collaboration with Ninja, the streamer explained the meaning of the “Time In” slogan:
Ninja’s successful Adidas launch isn’t the first time he’s had a major partnership outside of gaming since his switch to Mixer. Before the shoes were released, Ninja collaborated with writer Justin Jordan and artist Felipe Magaña to release the comic Ninja: The Most Dangerous Game. The comic from Ten Speed Press features a story co-written by Ninja about the streamer getting trapped in a video game that’s not Fortnite but is suspiciously similar to the game where he built his career.
If a kid from Chicago who just loves playing video games can collaborate with one of the sporting world’s most iconic brands to launch a shoe together, anything is truly possible. It’s through this philosophy that I hope I can help inspire the next generation of creators to realize their dreams– if you’re willing to put the TIME IN you can achieve anything.
Despite some predictions of doom, Ninja’s jump to Mixer is clearly working out well for him. While not everyone has the clout of Ninja, other high profile streamers have also switched platforms lately, and it remains to be seen if their new deals will present them with new opportunities as well.
Next: The Real Reason Why Ninja Gave Out His Phone Number
Source: Ninja/Twitter
