The upcoming League of Legends World Championship is receiving a huge boost in the sponsorship department with Mercedes-Benz coming on board, Riot Games announced recently.
The luxury car and automotive brand will serve as a partner for Worlds 2020 and future League tournaments, such as the Mid-Season Invitational and All-Star Weekend.
“Mercedes-Benz will be featured as the first-ever presenting partner of the Trophy Ceremony at each of the three international events,” according to Riot. It’s still unknown what capacity Mercedes-Benz’s branding will be featured in, but at the very least, it can be expected that the company will be involved in some way when the Summoner’s Cup is presented to the world champion on Oct. 31.
“Mercedes-Benz will also develop additional branded content along with dedicated commercials, ad artworks, social media and more, highlighting the pinnacle of League of Legends Esports,” Riot said.
With this in mind, it can be expected that the partnership will go deeper than the trophy ceremonies at international events. With Mercedes-Benz on board, there are seemingly multiple potential branding and advertising routes that League esports can go down.
Mercedes-Benz has been a partner with China’s LPL for the better part of the last three seasons now, but to see the company dive headfirst into global League esports is definitely a step in the right direction for the professional scene of the game. Riot recently announced a partnership with Spin Master as well, bringing esports to the mainstream media as well.
Spin Master, global children’s toy and entertainment company, will develop products such as “action figures, playsets, and role play items,” estimated to retail in fall of 2021, the company announced recently.
“Our League of Legends line up will appeal to fans of all ages, delivering high-quality products on the cutting edge,” said John Blaney, Spin Master’s senior vice president of licensing.
Spin Master is behind some of the world’s most popular children’s brands and toys today, such as Bakugan Battle Brawlers and PAW Patrol.
League remains one of the most popular video games in the world, with a worldwide peak of eight million daily concurrent users according to Riot’s 10th-anniversary stream. Partnering with an expert in children’s entertainment could see an even bigger expansion of League as a brand rather than a game to a younger target audience.
If you’re itching to pick up some League merch right now, Riot previously partnered with Good Smile to produce figures for Ezreal, Yasuo, and Ahri, as well as upcoming chibi Nendoroid and scale action figure for Lux. Riot has been on fire with partnerships, recently teaming up with Spotify.