Riot Games has announced it will allow sports betting as a sponsorship category for its tier-one League of Legends (LoL) and Valorant competitions.
The decision comes after esports teams asked the video games developer and competition organiser to reconsider its stance.
Riot Games has been historically reluctant to open the door to gambling sponsors. In December, COO Whalen Rozelle confirmed steps were being taken to open sponsorship up to the sector.
In a blog post from president of publishing and esports, John Needham, the exec confirmed the decision was now going ahead, before laying out the company’s thinking behind why now was the right time to move forward with the policy.
He said: “Betting activity already exists around our sports and will continue whether we engage with it or not.”
With the sponsorship category set to open up, Needham added that guardrails will be put in place to protect the ecosystem.
This means vetting and approving all potential sports betting partners, ensuring all potential partners are using GRID data and that they have an integrity program inclusive of policy development, monitoring and education.
The sponsorships will also see a portion of revenue earned given to tier-two esports teams to increase prize pools, build on integrity system developments and expand training and education programs.
Needham said: “Sports betting – and more specifically, esports betting – is a space that more fans choose to engage with every year.
“According to Sportradar, the total betting turnover globally involving just LoL Esports and VCT reached $10.7bn in 2024.
“But here’s the problem: 70% of bets across all sports are placed in unregulated markets with bookmakers who aren’t licensed.
“We believe it’s better to engage in allowing betting sponsorships – thoughtfully, carefully and with the right protections – than to sit on the sidelines while risks to fans and integrity go unchecked.”
As part of the new sponsorship category, Riot-owned broadcast and social media channels will stay betting-free.
This will mean no adverts, sponsored segments from betting partners or sports betting partner logos on team jerseys.
Teams will be left in charge to work out how to integrate sports betting related content onto their channels and stay within Riot Games’ guidelines and sponsorship programme.
On the future, Needham said Riot Games are dedicated to do right by its players and are willing to make changes when necessary.
He added: “We believe that showing up in this space – responsibly – is better than letting others define it for us.
“We’ve said before that Riot is all in for the long term on our esports, and that means stepping into arenas like sports betting with an objective to both guide and protect our brands from bad actors by establishing what good looks like, while also providing an avenue for teams to benefit financially.
“With any new endeavour, there will be challenges, and if we need to make adjustments, we will.
“Please know our overall commitment is to do right by our players, teams and fans as well as the world-class esports experience that we’ve built together and want to see thrive for years to come.”
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President of esports John Needham explains all potential partners will be vetted, with guardrails put in place to protect the esports ecosystem
The post Riot Games confirms sports betting sponsorships to be allowed first appeared on EGR Intel.