The North American LoL professional league LCS announces a partnership with crypto exchange FTX. The deal comes just a few months after FTX already entered into a sponsorship with LCS team TSM.
Few weeks after the name partnership between Team SoloMid (TSM) and crypto exchange FTX, the North American LoL league LCS is following suit. The partnership, which could be a new milestone for Riot Games’ franchise league, was officially announced on Tuesday.
The seven-year deal with FTX represents “the largest sponsorship agreement” Riot Games has ever signed for an esports league, according to the announcement. Accordingly, this contract is to be described as a new mega deal with a high-money sum in the millions. The contract between FTX and TSM, which was agreed in June, has already gone down in esports history as the largest sponsorship by a single company with an accompanying 210 million US dollars.
The abstruse thing about it: After the North American team TSM landed this deal with the intention of changing its team name to TSM FTX, Riot Games did not let this pass as the official name in the league. The name is now only on TSM’s social media channels and public websites, but not in the league itself.
We are excited to announce a seven-year partnership with @FTX_Official making them the Official Cryptocurrency Exchange of the #LCS
Learn more at: https://t.co/glrLCAnrrg pic.twitter.com/kLZx5075w4
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) August 3, 2021
Riot Games, unlike TSM, has the option to remove FTX logos and lettering embedded in the stream for countries where cryptocurrencies are strictly regulated or even banned.
The developer is promptly receiving criticism for the partnership, along with the LCS. Because the hypocrisy after the name ban towards TSM is quickly turning into a sarcastic boomerang with its own deal.
TSM sign $210 million deal with FTX
Riot: you ain't using that in our league tho
FTX pays Riot Millions
Riot: Welcome FTX to LCS!
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) August 3, 2021
The post by “EsportsTalk” journalist Jake Lucky and various reactions via Twitter show the obvious ill will towards this partnership. Crypto exchanges offer much-discussed speculation opportunities, which are also compared to gambling. However, there are no firm classifications and government-approved studies on these new types of investments – rather, cryptocurrencies are seen as possible investment alternatives to state pensions.
In the LCS, the FTX branding will fittingly be seen around the theme of gold. This will include providing information on the in-game currency collected, which includes player and team gold. The “LCS Most Improved Player” award will also be sponsored by FTX.
FTX is one of the most well-known cryptocurrencies with its FTX tokens. Within the last month, the company traded around two billion euros. In the current year, FTX has already been involved more frequently with sponsorship deals in the sports and entertainment industry
