Lagardère Sports has announced that they signed a multi-year partnership with the League of Legends European Championship (LEC). The strategic partnership is centred around the commercialisation of the newly established LEC, the official governing body for the League of Legends competition in Europe. The long-term agreement will see the League of Legends European Championship and Lagardère Sports collaborate in multiple areas to further develop esports within Europe.
This collaboration between a sports marketing agency with a publisher operated esports league is a major validation of the LEC’s commitment to professionalize esports and establish a contemporary, structured and sustainable environment for their professional players and teams. Lagardère Sports will act as the exclusive sponsorship agency for the LEC. In this role, the sports marketing agency will leverage the long-term knowledge in sports sponsorship consulting and activation to conceptualize and establish long-term partnerships between endemic and non-endemic brands and the LEC.
“Riot Games has always been a pioneer in esports, and our rebranded League of Legends European Championship (LEC) is one of the leading esports leagues in the world that offers brands the best possible opportunities to enter esports,” says Alban Dechelotte, Head of Sponsorship & Business Development Europe at Riot Games. “This partnership will see us working hand in hand with Lagardère Sports to enter the next level of brand partnerships in European esports.”
Within the partnership, the LEC and Lagardère Sports will be working together on future initiatives that will enhance the relevance of the league as well as esports as a whole, including the development of innovative sponsorship concepts and unique activations that guarantee brands to reach a highly involved and young target group. By working closely together with the LEC, Lagardère Sports will be able to further transfer its knowledge into esports and establish the agency’s role as a key player within the business of esports.
“With 100 million active players, League of Legends is one of the leading game titles in the world while Riot Games is one of the leading game publishers globally and a true visionary in esports.” says Robert Müller von Vultejus, Managing Director Lagardère Sports Germany and Head of Business Development Europe at Lagardère Sports. “At Lagardère Sports our goals have always been to help brands with their individual needs and enable them to reach out to their target groups. We are committed to impact their business in the best possible way through marketing activities in sports.”
“The partnership with the League of Legends European Championship is truly a milestone in our endeavours to establish Lagardère Sports as the leading sports marketing agency in esports in Europe. We have been an integral part of the professionalisation in sports for more than two decades. For the past two years we have been transferring this knowledge into esports and we are very much looking forward to taking this to the next level. As the exclusive sponsorship agency for the LEC, we are the go-to platform for League of Legends esports partnerships in Europe. We identified esports as one of our key drivers for the future and we will certainly do more in this exciting environment of new sports.”
“League of Legends fans tend to be young, digital, and innovative and therefore very much interesting for numerous premium brands and advertisers. The LEC creates for the first time in Europe a sustainable, and plannable esports ecosystem around a video gaming title that will very much take away a lot of questions marks that brands might have in the past when thinking about entering esports. We are convinced that the LEC offers the best structured eco-system for brands and companies for successful sponsorships in esports in Europe. We are even more excited that we will be able to announce numerous partnerships for the upcoming season starting on 18th of January”, adds Moritz Altmann, Senior Director Esports at Lagardère Sports.
The LEC will gather the 10 best European teams of League of Legends including Schalke 04 esports, FNATIC, SK Gaming, Origen, Misfits Gaming, Excel Esports, Rogue, Splyce, Team Vitality and G2 Esports. The best teams of the regular season will compete for the European crown to qualify for the international events in front of thousands of people on site and millions via streaming.
As part of the partnership Lagardère Sports will launch a microsite informing about the agency’s esports activities and the sponsorship opportunities at the LEC. Within the next few days Riot Games EU and Lagardère Sports will be able to announce several brand partnerships for the LEC that will further underline the joined ambition to establish the LEC as the leading esports league in Europe.
Video statement of Alban Dechelotte, Head of Sponsorship & Business Development Europe at Riot Games; Moritz Altmann, Senior Director Esports and Thomas Ottl, Director Esports at Lagardère Sports
