Riot Games partners with Crypto Giant Coinbase for LoL and VALORANT Esports

6 May

Martin Arévalo-Östberg

Riot Games has announced the start of a new partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. The deal will begin with the start of the upcoming VALORANT Masters Toronto event on June 7th, and will see Coinbase rise to the forefront of broadcast segments and fan experiences across both VALORANT and League of Legends esports for the foreseeable future.

What this means for the fans

Perhaps the most important aspect to note about the partnership deal is that it will not include any type of crypto transactions into Riot Games or its esports scenes. Instead, the deal will simply focus on matters of fan engagement and visibility.

This means that you can expect Coinbase to pop up during official Riot esports events through featured broadcast segments, fan activities, or digital campaigns including giveaways. Debuting at Masters Toronto, the partnership will take place across major Riot Games events, such as League of Legends' Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) and the World Championship (Worlds), and VALORANT's Masters and Champions tournaments.

For the time being, though, no length of time has been specified in relation to the deal.

Coinbase is set to play a role in League of Legends and VALORANT esports broadcasts in the future. (Credit: Riot Games and Coinbase)

Questions arise?

Even if the announcement that cryptocurrency is not being introduced into either League of Legends or VALORANT will allow fans to breathe a sigh of relief, many will still look at this partnership with a sense of disapproval. Long standing fans of LoL esports will remember, for instance, the TSM-FTX debacle.

In 2021, TSM, one of the biggest League of Legends teams in North America, partnered with FTX exchange, a former cryptocurrency exchange. A year after the signing of the deal, FTX declared bankruptcy after much speculation regarding the fraudulent nature of its operations. Ultimately, the deal marked a disastrous move for TSM, a team that exited the North American League of Legends scene at the end of 2023.

Nothing to fear

Now, Riot Games' partnership with Coinbase is bound to raise doubts of a similar kind. Coinbase, however, has made their name as one of the most reputable cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, and has already worked with major brands in the NBA and Formula One scenes in the past, as well as with the esports organization Team Liquid.

Among waves of 'crypto scams' and an overall lack of general understanding of blockchain technology, public opinion on cryptocurrencies has often been skeptical, to say the least. In the words of Riot Games themselves, though, this new partnership is about nothing more than "collaborating together to create deeper fan experiences across LoL and VALORANT Esports for years to come."

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Featured image credit: Riot Games

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