Nike Agrees Bumper Chinese eSports Sponsorship Deal With LPL

The agreement sees Nike become the first traditional sportswear company to get top partner designation for the new TJ Sports joint venture league, run by Tencent and title producer Riot Games.

The move comes after Puma’s apparel sponsorship deal with popular League of Legends Championship Series team Cloud9 earlier this year while Adidas’ has been on an esports spree, securing deals with the likes of Lyon EDG FIFA Online 4 team and Danish eSports team, North.

According to Chinese media, Nike’s LPL deal is reportedly worth US$7.5 million a year and includes apparel rights for all 16 franchises, with the American sportswear giant and the series distributing the sales at an undisclosed ratio.

Nike’s contract will see all LPL players, coaches and team staff exclusively wear Nike apparel on game days, as well as gaining other partnership branding benefits.

The deal between Nike and LPL follows months of speculation regarding the LPL inventory, with Adidas and Chinese brand 361° both active in negotiations with Tencent, according to Lanxiong Sports.

ASN ran the story when the Nike-LPL rumours began in November, but delays surrounding trademark issues, prevented confirmation. The leaked report also grossly overstated the deal’s valuation, with the current contract aligned closer to industry norms.

The deal represents a landmark in eSports and a resonant statement from Nike. According to TJ Sports, the total viewership of LPL in 2018 climbed 50 per cent to 15 billion, compared with 2017. The final game of 2018 League of Legends World Championship saw a record 99.6 million viewership.

Nike’s official LPL products will apparently be put on sale during 2019 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitation with branded team jerseys not appearing until the 2019 League of Legends World Championship, meaning they hit retail shelves in 2020.