Ultra Prime is the LPL’s ultimate underdog story. Formerly known as eStar Gaming, the organization occupies a unique position in China’s top League of Legends competition. UP operates without the massive corporate backing or legacy fanbase that organizations like EDG, JDG, or RNG command, yet under Li-Ning’s league-wide apparel program, they receive the exact same jersey quality and design attention as every other team in the league.
The 2024 Li-Ning jersey is a tangible reminder that the LPL treats its smallest members with the same material respect as its giants.
Design and Branding
The 2024 Ultra Prime jersey featured the team’s purple and white branding, processed through Li-Ning’s design language with the same cultural consideration given to higher-profile rosters. Li-Ning’s designers applied the same level of attention to UP’s jersey as they did to world championship contenders, incorporating the team’s visual identity into the league-wide design framework that defines LPL apparel.
This equal treatment is one of the LPL’s most underappreciated strengths. In leagues without centralized apparel deals, smaller teams often produce noticeably cheaper merchandise that signals their budget constraints to fans. In the LPL, a fan buying an Ultra Prime jersey gets the same Li-Ning quality, the same premium polyester construction, and the same sublimated graphics as someone buying an EDG or TES jersey.
The eStar-to-UP Journey
Ultra Prime’s path to the 2024 season has been defined by persistence in the face of obscurity. The organization cycled through roster changes and a full rebranding, transitioning from the eStar Gaming identity to the Ultra Prime name. Through each iteration, UP continued competing against organizations with exponentially larger budgets and far more established fanbases.
The Li-Ning jersey program meant that regardless of these challenges, UP’s merchandise never reflected their underdog status. A fan wearing an Ultra Prime jersey at an LPL event carries the same production quality as fans of the league’s wealthiest teams. This parity is deliberate and reflects the LPL’s centralized approach to team apparel.
What Li-Ning’s Program Means for Small Teams
The LPL’s league-wide Li-Ning deal accomplishes something rare in esports: it ensures that the jersey a fan wears is never a signal of their team’s budget, only their loyalty. For Ultra Prime, this matters enormously. Without Li-Ning’s centralized program, UP would likely produce merchandise that reflected their limited resources, creating a visible gap between their gear and the premium products offered by the league’s top organizations.
Instead, every LPL jersey exists on the same quality plane. This is what a centralized apparel partnership can accomplish when executed well, and Ultra Prime’s 2024 jersey is one of the clearest examples of its impact.
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Where to Buy
Ultra Prime Li-Ning jerseys are available through ShopNings for international buyers and via team stores on Taobao and JD.com within China.
