FTX, the second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has announced that it has signed a 7-year sponsorship deal with Riot Games to sponsor the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) esports competition. The sponsorship will allow FTX to display its branding during the online tournament and will appear throughout LCS broadcasts starting this weekend.
League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video game with more than 120 million active users under its belt. Riot Games has announced that it is the biggest sponsorship agreement the company has ever signed for an esports league. The amount of sponsorship has not yet been revealed.
Explaining the position of the brand’s logo, Riot games explained in its press release:
“Starting this weekend, fans will notice FTX branding on the LCS broadcast around the most valuable currency in League of Legends: Gold. Player net worth, total team gold and those rollercoaster gold graphs will all be presented by FTX. Additionally, FTX will directly sponsor the LCS Most Improved Player Award, to be voted on by a cross-section of Rioters, media and team representatives.”
In June, FTX first entered into a $210 million deal with popular esports club Team SoloMid (TSM), which would brand itself as TSM FTX per the conditions of the deal. TSM also participates in the LCS and is the organization’s most prominent esports team.
However, Riot Games later revealed that TSM FTX faced limitations due to its crypto sponsorships in both League of Legends and VALORANT. Therefore, TSM is not yet allowed to activate its sponsorship with FTX and cannot use the full “TSM FTX” name during broadcasts.
The press release announced that LCS Playoffs begin this weekend with Evil Geniuses versus Dignitas on Saturday at 2 PM PT and afterward Cloud9 versus Team Liquid on Sunday at 1 PM PT.
