Riot Games and Mastercard announced Wednesday that the credit card company will become the first global sponsor of the League of Legends esports franchise. Specific terms of the agreement were not released, but it will be a multi-year deal.
Mastercard will bring its “Priceless” experience to fans, starting in October when LoL’s World Championship commences in South Korea. The deal will also see Mastercard sponsor major annual tournaments such as the Mid-Season Invitational and the All-Star Event. Starting in 2019, Mastercard will work with its banking partners to offer League of Legends co-branded cards.
“Over the past two years, we’ve been educating ourselves on the eSports industry to determine the best path that would enable us to connect with this passionate community in an authentic way,” said Emily Neenan, Mastercard’s VP of global consumer marketing and sponsorships according to Digital News Daily. “Early on, it became evident that partnering with ‘League of Legends’ was the biggest and best opportunity to do this. We will customize it to the League fan base and continue to innovate.”
As part of the deal, Mastercard will offer “Priceless” users the opportunity to watch matches from VIP seats alongside professional players, attend an opening ceremony rehearsal for the World Championship, and test the gaming technology that the players compete with. League of Legends now joins an impressive list of Mastercard sports sponsorships, including MLB, the PGA TOUR, and UEFA Champions League.
“We’ve long been impressed with Mastercard and their fan-focused approach to partnerships,” said Jarred Kennedy, co-head of esports at Riot Games in an official press release. “Our community has made League of Legends the biggest esport in the world, and we’re excited to work with Mastercard to bring them new and innovative experiences for years to come.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Riot Games now oversees 14 professional League of Legends esports leagues and 113 professional teams, with over 850 salaried athletes across the world. The American video game developer claims League of Legends global viewership during the regular season averages 90 million hours watched live per week.
Last year’s League of Legends World Championship tournament was viewed for a total of 1.2 billion hours over the 21-day competition. With numbers like that, it is easy to see why a company such as Mastercard will pay to have its brand feature in the esports landscape. Esports organizations are reaping the benefits of sponsorship opportunities, as showcased by Deloitte’s recent projection that the esports industry will reach $1.5 billion in global revenues by 2020.