Money, Muscle, Porn, Games

Have you ever noticed the huge company logos on the side of a football or basketball stadium? You’ll often see a company’s label or logo plastered all over the stadium to let fans know some company supports and sponsors this event and has helped make it possible. Companies will help build the stadium that players are using, or maybe provide a product or a service for free to the attendees of the event. Sponsorships are a major part of why most events are made possible. With the help of an external resource, using your event to promote their name and providing you with the resources you ask for, it’s sort of a win-win situation. Most of the time, anyways.

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You’ll notice there are logos along the stadium like ABC, ESPN and even Staples on the ground.

In recent years, there has been a growth in companies that have shown interest in sponsoring major eSporting events. Games like League of Legends (LoL), Starcraft II (SC2) and Defense of the Ancients 2 (DotA 2) have seen sponsorships for various events from companies like Coke Zero, American Express and Intel, all of which have shown interest and are currently major sponsors of eSports.

Heck, you can even get a credit card from American Express that’ll earn you points to spend at the in-game store.

There is an amateur scene in League of Legends that gives teams an opportunity to go pro upon their success in the amateur league. With the help of Coke Zero, Riot Games was able to launch the League of Legends North American and European Challenger Series (NACS/EUCS, not to be confused with the professional league, the “League of  Legends Championship Series”, aka LCS).

In the past few months, there have been some very interesting sponsorships that have made their way into eSports.

Counter Logic Gaming (CLG), one of the top North American LoL teams, recently picked up a new sponsor called “Cellucor,” a company who primarily sells products that help with muscle growth and weight loss. The physical well-being of these players is just as important here as it is in any other sport (will be covered in a future article), but it was definitely interesting to see a company like Cellucor suddenly show up as a sponsor for CLG.

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Counter Logic Gaming (North American Professional League of Legends Team)

Cloud9 (C9), a company with competitive teams in games like LoL, Super Smash Bros. Melee and DotA 2 has a sponsorship with the Air Force Reserve. Who would have known?

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What’s really interesting is the most recent offer for a sponsorship in the eSports scene that was made public.

A pornographic website, YouPorn, has shown public interest in sponsoring LoL, DotA 2 or Hearthstone players.

The public announcement made by the site has mixed feelings from many. I’m actually not quite sure how serious the pornographic website is about sponsoring eSports.

CLG’s General Manager, Kelby, decided to respond to the post.

“@YouPorn If you’re serious you should email kelby@clgaming.net. I run @clgaming the #1 ranked LoL team in North America

— Kelby May (@call_me_Kelby) July 11, 2014“

He later confirmed that he was just joking.

“For the avoidance of doubt, I’m obviously joking. @clgaming would never pick up a sponsor like that.

— Kelby May (@call_me_Kelby) July 11, 2014“

According to section 10.1.7.5 of the official rules for LCS, Riot Games specifically state the prohibition of “advertising any pornographic website or pornographic products.” I’m not actually sure that the website even realizes that, but it’s still interesting to see the community’s views on the topic.

However, no matter where they come from or what they do, companies seek opportunities to get their name out there through sponsoring big things.

Right now, there’s a ten million dollar prize pool for one of the largest DotA 2 events of the year called The International 4. Ten million dollars, and that’s from the community. More on The International 4 in a future article.

Big things are happening in eSports, ladies and gentlemen. Big things.

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