Earlier this week, Team SoloMid (TSM) unveiled one of the largest publicly disclosed partnerships in esports. The North American organization has signed a deal worth $210 million with FTX Trading Ltd. for naming rights over 10 years. FTX Trading Ltd. is a cryptocurrency exchange platform.
Hereafter, the organization will be known as TSM FTX on the internet, on social media and across the esports titles. But, Riot Games will not permit the organization to use its revamped name.
As a result of which, the organization’s rosters for League of Legends and Valorant will remain TSM instead of TSM FTX during the broadcast and their jerseys will also exclude the FTX logo.
“The TSM and FTX sponsorship deal does not break any LCS sponsorship rules, but crypto exchanges fall under a category of sponsorship that carries activation restrictions,” said Chris Greeley, head of esports for Riot Games in North America & Oceania to Dot Esports. “As a result, TSM’s new naming convention and FTX brand placement on TSM jerseys will not apply to the LCS or other Riot Games esports in North America,” he further added.
In a rebuttal to the statement from Riot Games, Andy Dinh, the CEO of TSM, wrote on Reddit, “the deal carves out name on broad cast and jersey logo on both league and Valorant. But FTX will still be sponsoring our league and Valorant players in content, social, live-streaming and in person events. Which has more visibility than riots broadcast.”
This further affirms that the Los Angeles based organization would overall engage with its newest partner in the accustomed manner notwithstanding the drawback. The organization will update its social media handles with the updated name and its talent would actively promote the crypto platform in order to receive $21 million each year.
Source: DotEsports