Should Riot Games allow betting sponsors?

For the longest time, Riot Games has avoided associating itself with Betting Companies. Per the official rulebooks, Riot has prohibited organisations from seeking gambling sponsors. The ruling applies to all the organisations fielding a team competing in a Riot title, including Valorant and League of Legends. The ruling has led organisations to miss out on one of the most prominent Esports sponsors.

The stance of Riot Games on the prohibition of betting sites is the fact that Riot Games caters to a younger audience, and betting companies are promoting gambling. But all of this might change. Today Esporkolik, a Turkish news outlet, reported Riot Games are considering betting companies as possible sponsors for the organisations.

This is not the first time Riot will change its ruling, as the same rulebook states that Esports organisations are not allowed to partner with cryptocurrencies and unregulated financial instruments. But Riot changed the ruling to enable Crypto exchanges to partner with the Esports Organisation. Riot partnered with FTX, a crypto exchange, in 2021.

After the ruling change, Crypto exchanges became a significant source of sponsorship for Esports organisations. But the fall of crypto because of the FTX debacle has since had a major impact on the esports industry. Multiple organisations either laid off employees or shut down operations due to a lack of sponsors.

Why might Riot Games open its doors to Betting sponsors?

Riot is a leading tournament organiser in the esports industry. The Riot-sponsored tournaments are an effective marketing tool for Riot. These massive tournaments help Riot showcase its games and reach more audiences. Riot also capitalises on the events by launching limited-time bundles, which bring massive profits for the company.

But for Riot to continue organising big tournaments, there must be participating teams and esports organisations to field a team for Riot titles. With diminishing sources of money and limited sponsors in sight will eventually dry up, leading to them letting go of the rosters.

With such a dreadful future in sight, it would make sense if Riot changes its stance and allows the organisers to partner with betting companies. Betting companies are already huge sponsors in CS:GO and DOTA. These companies also sponsor traditional sports, most notably Premier League Football.

Problems with Betting Sponsors:

The major problem with betting sponsors is that it is a form of gambling. The esports and gaming industry as a whole caters to a younger audience. And advertising a gambling platform on a jersey of their favourite player or a team might lead them on the wrong path. Especially since gambling is highly addictive and getting into it at a young age will be detrimental to the child's future. Twitch, the streaming platform, also banned gambling for the same reason. 

With both pros and cons in sight, the decision is for Riot to make. Allowing betting companies to sponsor the esports organisation might help with the longevity of the organisation and the scene itself. But with a risk of exposing gambling to a younger audience.

Responding to the report, Riot Games Spokesperson told Dotesports that Riot will actively look for opportunities for the ecosystem to grow but as of now, there are no changes to the policy. Though, Riot Games are considering all the possible options for sponsors and are working towards enabling great experiences for fans and revenue streams for teams.

Credits: Riot Games

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