eSports: Nike equipment supplier of the Tencent League of Legends Pro League (€126m over 5 years)

Nike, an American sports equipment manufacturer, has become the equipment supplier of the Tencent League of Legends Pro League (LPL), a Chinese professional eSports league on the League of Legends video game for five years (2018-2022), according to international media on 20/11/2018. League of Legends is published by Riot Games, a subsidiary of the Chinese company Tencent.

Nike will pay nearly CNY1bn (€126m on 20/10/2018) to the LPL over the five year contract, approximately €25m annually. Under the agreement, Nike will provide clothing, accessories and footwear to all players and representatives of the 14 LPL teams, according to international media reports.

Among the 14 teams, the LPL includes among its ranks "Invictus Gaming", the team that won the 2018 League of Legends World Championships in South Korea (played from 01/10 to 03/11/2018). Additionally, the Chinese professional player Jian 'Uzi' Zihao, from the "Royal Never Give Up" team playing in the LPL, became Nike's first eSports ambassador on 17/10/2018.