League of Legends Worlds sponsors – A dive into the past

With Riot Games announcing Mercedes-Benz as its official partner of the League of Legends World Championship 2023, let’s take a look at the sponsors that have collaborated on the previous edition of Worlds.

League of Legends Worlds Sponsors – From 2018 to 2023

2018 – The first-ever global sponsor

Worlds 2018 was a crucial year not only from a competitive standpoint (China winning the championship and ending the Korean dominance) but also from a business perspective. Mastercard became the first global sponsor with Riot Games, signing a multi-year partnership and becoming the exclusive payment services partner for all the League of Legends Global Events (Mid-Season Invitational, the All-Star Event, and the World Championship).

The partnership kicked off with the 2018 World Championship, with the brand being displayed on-site, in broadcast, and through other promotions, including giving some lucky fans a special viewing experience of the tournament.

2019 – More sponsors coming in

Mastercard’s addition as a partner made other brands follow suit in 2019, as other seven sponsors collaborated with Riot Games for League of Legends 2019 Worlds.

Apart from Mastercard, Riot Games signed deals with State Farm, Alienware, Secretlab, OPPO, Red Bull, Axe, and Louis Vuitton. All brands were featured at the event and Louis Vuitton also included a custom trophy travel case for the Summoners Cup and the creation by Nicolas Ghesquière, artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s women’s collections, of a set of in-game character skins based on a fictional hip-hop group True Damage.

Additionally, most of the global partners delivered physical experiences to fans as part of the “esports village” located next to the Hôtel de Ville (city hall) of Paris. OPPO’s partnership, however, did not extend to other Riot mobile games (Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, and League of Legends: Wild Rift).

Read also: LoL Worlds 2023 Power Rankings

2020 – Mercedes-Benz joins as Global partner

For the 2020 edition of Worlds, which was held in Shanghai, China, the publisher added more partners for the tournament, including several Chinese brands. The global partners were similar to the previous years, considering most brands had multi-year deals. But in addition to Louis Vuitton, Statefarm, Mastercard Oppo, Redbull, Secretlab, and Axe, four other sponsors (Bose, Alienware, Spotify, and Cisco) joined.

Mercedes-Benz became the Official Automotive Partner of LoL Esports Global Events after being the top sponsor for the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), China’s top League of Legends competition since 2018.

On the Chinese partner list, there was dairy brand Momchilovtsi, spring water brand Wahaha, energy drink brand Warhorse, and KFC. All of them were already partners of the LPL. On top of them, six other brands were Chinese special partners: e-commerce platform Suning, financial service SPD Bank Credit Card, Intel, Logitech G, intelligent projector brand JMGO, and intelligent household brand ROEHL.

2021 – 11 sponsors for the tournament and increasing integrations of brands in broadcasts

With the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, Worlds 2021 took place in Iceland after it hosted the Mid-Season Invitational earlier during the season. The newest addition was telecommunication company Verizon, with Mercedes-Benz, Red Bull, SecretLab, OPPO, Axe, State Farm, MasterCard, Bose, Spotify, and Cisco being the remaining sponsors for the tournament.

Aside from the traditional activations and commercials, Riot Games has been finding more and more creative ways to promote their partners to the esports audience, involving them both during the broadcast and in the content production. A permanent ad space on the viewers’ screen would rotate the 11 sponsors, guaranteeing exposure to everyone and virtual banners were implemented in-game so that they would always show up, especially during key moments.

Last but not least, Riot utilized the brands’ names inside special segments and in-game events, such as the Red Bull Baron Power Play, the Axe replay, and the featured player match-up presented by Mercedes Benz. The automotive company also created, in collaboration with Riot Games, special Championship Rings that were given to the winners of the tournament.

Read also: Worlds 2023 Pick’Em Predictions – Everything you need to know

2022 – Taking the esports experience to another level

Last year’s Worlds had two important milestones when it comes to partnerships: the first being the partnership extension with Mastercard as an official sponsor for League of Legends Esports Global Tournaments as well as the multi-year global partnership with luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co.

On top of brand activations, brand segments, and in-game promotions, the financial services company was featured in the opening ceremony of the Worlds Finals. There were also special interactions with the online audience, as fans spammed “TY MASTERCARD” whenever players completed the first mythic item and the broadcast played the sound of a Mastercard transaction. It became a popular meme that generated a lot of interaction, and it led to other brands getting their own “TY” meme whenever brands were displayed on screen. Tiffany & Co, on the other hand, worked on the redesign of the Summoner’s Cup, which was awarded to DRX, winners of the World Championship.

Amazon Prime Gaming was another sponsor that made headlines for being the most mentioned sponsor at the tournament, appearing more than 35 thousand times in chats. According to a report by Esports Charts, viewers could earn Riot Points, collectible League of Legends figures, plush toys, limited edition clothing, and art items each day during all stages of the tournament simply by typing“!prime” to participate. 

2023

Even though there aren’t new sponsors joining the list, Mercedes-Benz recently announced its new sponsorship deal for Worlds 2023, becoming the official automotive partner for the event for the fourth year in a row and staying at least until 2025. The carmaker will support Riot Games by providing players with transportation and presenting its vehicles during the events. Moreover, it will support World Championship competitor T1 and launch a new campaign called ‘The Hunt For Glory’ for the event.