Milo W. November 4, 2018
Mastercard is now the first global sponsor for League of Legend esports.
In a statement on their website, Riot Games announced a multi-year partnership with the international credit card company.
Mastercard is no stranger to sponsorships with traditional sporting leagues such as Major League Baseball. With this new sponsorship, Riot Games has taken a big step in advertising in the esports industry.
“Mastercard is among the first of world-class brands to take such a big step into esports at the global level, and we’re proud to have them support League of Legends esports events,” said Naz Aletaha, head of esports partnerships at Riot Games.
Kicking off with the 2018 World Championship, Mastercard will become the exclusive payment services partner for upcoming League of Legends esports events.
“We are excited about the experiences and benefits we can bring to the world’s largest esport - both in-game and to the millions of League of Legends fans that watch and attend the tournaments each year,” said Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard.
Riot Games and Mastercard will also be offering the chance to get a behind-the-scenes look during the World Championship finals. Fans have the opportunity to win an exclusive viewing of the opening ceremony rehearsal and to perform a playtest on the PCs the pros will later use to compete.
This sponsorship with Mastercard comes at a crucial time for League of Legends as an esport. A recent Reddit post stated that Riot Games will consider cutting the company’s esports budget if revenue doesn’t soon increase. Fans will hope that this new partnership can help provide a boost to League’s esports profits in the years to come.