Streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp was just signed to T1 as a content creator.
In a video announcing the signing, Tyler1 had to choose between a blue and red door. The red door offered an “uncertain” and “chaotic” journey. But the option also offered Tyler1 “eternal greatness.”
“Come on T! Make the right choice! Don’t make the easy choice! Get over here! Let’s move it!” Tyler1’s conscience exclaimed from atop the red door.
Tyler1 picked red, calling it the “dumbest shit” he ever did.
It ended up being the right choice, leading T1 to gain a key to joining T1. This included hosting his own tournament, the Tyler1 Championship Series. Even though he wasn’t too great at working the keys, Tyler1 was finally able to realize his future. Most of the comments on the video were positive, with people seeming surprised but happy with the interesting news.
The Esports Observer spoke with T1 Entertainment & Sport’s CEO Joe Marsh, who told a reporter he first connected with Tyler1 at an All-Star event. Last year, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, a legendary League of Legends mid laner, and Tyler1 were in Last Vegas at the same time. T1 decided to have the two create some video content together.
“The jokes just write themselves with T1, T1,” Marsh said.
Still, Tyler1 declined at the time. The League of Legends streamer and Marsh continued to stay in touch, ultimately leading to this momentous signing extravaganza. The deal, negotiated by PROXY, is about more than just having a popular streamer join the organization.
Said Marsh: “We view this more as a content creation partnership versus just a strict streaming deal.”
Marsh explained that Tyler1 doesn’t need T1 for streaming since he’s “one of the biggest names in the game.” Instead, the partnership is about building T1’s brand in the west since it only just started to build roots in the United States. Despite his toxic past, Tyler1 was described by Marsh as a “big personality and a great guy to work with.”
According to Marsh, Tyler1 already has a lot of content ideas for the partnership. So far, T1 expressed interest in doing all of them. With Tyler1 being the face of T1’s “winning” mindset and brand, Faker is free to “focus on his main job,” which is winning another championship.
“Tyler’s got a lot of creative ideas in his head, and we’re excited to unveil those and explore those throughout the next year,” Marsh said.
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