Riot Games wants a court to end its 'League of Legends' sponsorship deal with FTX

The crypto exchange owes Riot at least $6.25 million.

Riot Games is trying to get out of its League of Legends Championship Series partnership with FTX. On Friday, the studio filed a petition in the court hearing FTX's bankruptcy case to end the seven-year sponsorship deal the two companies signed last August.

In a brief spotted by Molly White, crypto reviewer and creator of Web3 is Going Just Great (via PC Gamer), Riot says the exchange has yet to half of the 12.5 million he agreed to pay in 2022 for the studio to display the FTX brand at LCS events. Riot adds that the disgraced company still owes it nearly $13 million in 2023, with the first quarterly payment of the year due on January 2. FTX's annual payments to Riot are expected to increase until their deal ends in 2028.

Riot also has a personal interest in the case. More than a year before his arrest for fraud, FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried admitted he was "(in)famous for playing League of Legends during phone calls". SBF's gambling habit became something of a joke when it emerged that he wasn't very good at gambling.

“Images of Mr. Bankman-Fried playing League of Legends were posted alongside text describing his cavalier attitude towards investor meetings and his irresponsibility towards investment funds. "These images created a public narrative that Mr. Bankman Fried's interest in League of Legends, once relatable and humane, was now reckless and juvenile," Riot says. "Even Mr. Bankman-Fried's ranking in >League of Legends has been the subject of online commentary with public figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elon Musk."

If you think Riot is ready to give up on crypto because of a high-profile implosion, think again. The reason the studio wants a court to overturn its deal with FTX is so it can move forward with a new sponsorship. “The more Riot is prevented from trading the crypto exchange sponsorship category and broadcast assets currently held by FTX, the more damage Riot suffers.” Here's hoping the studio doesn't find itself in a similar situation in the future.

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