" League of Legends " developer Riot Games said that Sam Bankman-Fried's connection with the game is damaging the company's image. In the filings of the FTX bankruptcy case, Riot Games asked the court to terminate its League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) sponsorship agreement with the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, citing irreversible "reputation damage."
Bankman-Fried's love for games came into sight after the fall of FTX, and he was notorious for playing League of Legends (and other games) during conferences. In a now-deleted profile of Bankman Fried released by venture capital firm Sequoia, co-founder Neeraj Arora said he was even playing League of Legends when they first met via Zoom.
The former billionaire is not shy about his interest in League of Legends (although he admits he is terrible). He mentioned the game in a long post on Twitter that he posted last year, he said. "I play a lot more than you think because I'm a guy who often trades sleep and work. Why? Well, the answer is obvious. The only most common thing about LoL is that everyone who plays it says they don't plan to play anymore."
At the time, all this might be good publicity for Riot Games, which announced a seven-year deal with FTX to sponsor its LCS Tour. But now that FTX's crypto empire has collapsed, Bankman Fried is accused of fraud and money laundering, Riot Games is seeking to cut off any remaining relationship with the exchange, saying its "image and reputation of its client base" are "integrity".
"Bankman Fried's pictures playing League of Legends are shown along with texts describing his rash attitude towards investors' meetings and irresponsible words for the company's funds," the document reads. "The images create a public narrative of Mr. Bankman Fried's interest in League of Legends, once affable and humane, now reckless and childish."
According to the document, FTX still owes Riot Games $6.25 million during its time as a sponsor of LCS in 2022, but will increase to $12.875 million next year. These payments will "upgrade year by year until 2028", bringing the total value of the transaction to around $96 million. Apart from alleged damage to its brand, Riot says it wants to close the deal now to replace FTX with another cryptocurrency sponsor in the 2023 season.
"The reputational damage caused to Riot is irreversible," the document reads. "FTX cannot go back in the past and develop company control measures for custody of customers' funds, which have now disappeared in the eyes of the public." Other organizations sponsored by
FTX quickly abandoned the exchange's brand image after it went bankrupt. Professional esports group Team SoloMid (TSM) once removed "FTX" from its name last month with TSM FTX as part of its sponsorship agreement, and Miami Heat has begun looking for new sponsors for its FTX stadium. Even Mercedes' Formula One team suspended its deal with the company and removed the FTX's logo from its vehicle.
