Why MasterCard is advertising more with Riot Games even as other brands divest from esports
Is esports winter real? Not as far as MasterCard is concerned.
As other brands threaten to pull away from esports, MasterCard is going full speed ahead on competitive gaming in 2023. August 21 marked the credit card brand’s fifth anniversary as a global sponsor of “League of Legends” esports; in June, MasterCard increased its investment in competitive gaming through a global sponsorship of “Valorant,” Riot Games’ other major esport. Chances are, this wasn’t cheap, given how much these deals can cost — a Riot Games representative declined to share the specific value of the sponsorship agreements, but brands’ past partnerships with major esports leagues have reportedly cost between $17 million and upwards of $144 million for multi-year deals.
MasterCard’s growing involvement in Riot Games’ esports ecosystem is a ringing endorsement of the game developer’s long-term plans for competitive gaming. Riot views esports as the “future of sport” — an entertainment product that will one day be as lucrative and popular as traditional sports such as baseball and basketball — and MasterCard is ready and willing to buy into this vision, at least for now.
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Source:: Digiday
