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We're opening up wagering sponsorship opportunities for Tier 1 LoL and VALORANT groups in the Americas and EMEA with safeguards to protect competitive integrity and the fan experience.

At Riot, we have actually always believed that building the future of esports implies purchasing a sustainable environment, not simply for today, but for the long run. That's why we're focused on supporting the gamers, teams, and the fans who sustain it all. In 2023, I shared our vision for developing a sustainable future for our esports environment and later followed up with particular changes, like a new collaboration design and much deeper work to unlock more foreseeable income streams and sponsorship opportunities for partner groups.

One location that's been on our radar which groups have actually been asking us to think about for years is sports wagering as a sponsor classification. Today, I wish to share why we're opening up the wagering sponsorship category for Tier 1 LoL and VALORANT teams in the Americas and EMEA - and what we're doing to ensure it's done properly.

Why Sports Betting & Why Now

We understand sports wagering isn't for everyone, and that some fans have strong feelings about it, and we respect that. However, the truth is that wagering activity currently exists around our sports and will continue whether we engage with it or not. Historically, this has actually been a limited sponsorship category, and Riot has actually not engaged with wagering business. Teams have actually asked us to reconsider our position, and after years of analysis to ensure we got it right, we agreed it was time to open this classification to develop more income opportunities for teams.

Sports wagering - and more specifically, esports betting - is an area that more fans pick to engage with every year. According to Sportradar, the overall betting turnover worldwide including simply LoL Esports and VCT reached $10.7 billion in 2024. But here's the issue: 70% of bets across all sports are positioned in unregulated markets with bookmakers who aren't licensed.

Our company believe it's better to engage in allowing betting sponsorships - attentively, thoroughly, and with the ideal defenses - than to sit on the sidelines while threats to fans and integrity go unattended.

Our Approach: Guardrails First

As the publisher of the world's two most significant esports, we take seriously our duty to teams, players, and fans to protect the community we've developed and place it for long-lasting success.
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This means completely owning our decision to open this classification by establishing a well-researched sports wagering partnership program that:

Answers the call from our partner groups to open sponsorship chances with betting brand names to produce extra revenue for their monetary health.


Guides and supports the development of guidelines, keeping track of finest practices, and curricula that secure the integrity of esports groups, pros, fans, and events.


Strengthens and strengthens the competitive integrity standards of our esports competitors by enhancing our ability to keep track of wagering activity for offenses of our policies.


Our capability to fulfill these objectives means we need to equip teams with the right tools and guidance to successfully browse the sports betting sponsorship space in a manner that safeguards the fan and esports event experience.

Here are the highlights of how we are interesting sports betting partners:

Vet and Approve all Potential Sports Betting Partners

Before any potential sports betting partner can pursue a collaboration with a partnered team, they need to be vetted and authorized by Riot. It is essential to us to bring the very same razor of examination to all betting brands interested in our groups.


Build on our Established Official Partnership with GRID

For a digital-first sport like esports, using tidy, main information is critical to deteriorating black markets and stopping shady operators from taking benefit of fans and pros. That's why, in 2023, we established a worldwide partnership and financial investment in GRID to develop a single, trusted source of data for teams and business partners, consisting of wagering operators. Any possible betting partner needs to utilize GRID to power their offerings, making sure consistency, stability, and responsibility throughout the board.


Mandate Team Integrity Program Checks

As part of our wider sponsorship guidelines, we've developed a requirement for teams to produce and examine their own Internal Integrity Program - one that aligns with our expectations to:

Ensure competitive stability


Safeguard players and young audiences


Uphold responsible wagering practices

Integrity isn't something Riot can support alone; it's a shared responsibility throughout the whole ecosystem. Teams pursuing betting partnerships must have developed a stability program inclusive of policy development, monitoring, and education. They must likewise assess if this, like all other partnerships, makes good sense for their brand and fans.


Support and Foster our Tier 2 Esports Ecosystem

While sponsorships are only open up to Tier 1 LoL Esports and VCT groups in Americas and EMEA, the overall program will support the development and improvement of our Tier 2 esports groups.

A portion of Riot's earnings earned from the sports wagering program will be invested back into Tier 2 across a variety of locations including:

Increasing prize swimming pools and developing brand-new tournaments to support ambitious pros


Additional stability system advancements


Expanded training and education programs for our partner tournament operators and aspiring pros



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We're Protecting the Viewing Experience

The last thing we wish to do is disrupt LoL Esports and VCT broadcasts with an influx of sports wagering ads. So we have actually developed at the beginning that Riot-owned broadcast and social channels will remain betting-free, which indicates no ads, no sponsored sectors from betting partners, and no betting partner logos on group jerseys. It will be up to each team to craft how sports betting related material shows up on their channels within the guidelines of the sponsorship program, content platform ToS, and local guidelines.

Looking Ahead

We believe that showing up in this area - properly - is better than letting others specify it for us.

We've stated before that Riot is all in for the long term on our esports, and that implies entering arenas like sports betting with an unbiased to both guide and safeguard our brand names from bad stars by establishing what excellent appearances like, while also offering an opportunity for groups to benefit economically.

With any brand-new venture, there will be difficulties, and if we require to make adjustments, we will. Please understand our general commitment is to do right by our players, teams, and fans along with the first-rate esports experience that we've built together and want to see prosper for many years to come.