Amazon, Mastercard, Mercedes-Benz, Red Bull, Cisco, and Verizon, were among the major brands sponsoring Worlds 2024, League of Legends magnum event, which is akin to the fútbol World Cup, but for esports. The event attracts millions of highly engaged fans worldwide, giving brands an opportunity to connect with a community that’s as tech-savvy as it is passionate.
It's down to two.
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 31, 2024
Who will raise the Summoner's Cup on November 2? pic.twitter.com/z8nMA8xcDE
This year’s Worlds, held under the theme “Make Them Believe” lasted for about a month, with the finals taking place this past Saturday in London. The finals made history, hitting a peak of 6.9 million viewers and making it the most-viewed match in esports history (this figure excludes Chinese platforms, which typically deliver significantly higher numbers)
Mercedes-Benz made quite an impact by bringing Roger Federer, a brand ambassador since 2008, to “deliver” the championship trophy in their all-new electric G-Class. Seeing Roger, a legendary sports figure, return to the O2 arena—where he concluded his storied career—was both emotionally stirring and a clever move from the brand.
London is calling for legends.
— Mercedes-Benz (@MercedesBenz) November 1, 2024
The city is hosting the 2024 League of Legends World Championship Finals and @rogerfederer himself is sending the trophy to the arena – the very same place where he played the last match of his tennis career.#Worlds2024 #MBxLoLEsports #GClass… pic.twitter.com/wRFVVZUFmI
We are all used to seeing different trophies inside a Louis Vuitton case. The french house has created trophy cases for the event in the past, as they have done for the FIFA World Cup, the Rugby World Cup, the Ballon d’Or, and most recently in their home turf, with their partnership with the Paris 2024 Olympics, all under the theme “Victory Travels in Louis Vuitton.” So I quite enjoyed seeing Mercedes-Benz take this approach for a spin (pun most definitely intended) by creating a custom G-Class and naming it the Trophy Carrier. Refreshing.
Having Roger as the driver was also an excellent choice. While some hardcore League of Legends fans were confused to see a “tennis player” bringing in the trophy, I think it was a great choice and particularly love the mental models at play here. An unarticulated want of esports fans, is for esports to be treated like sports. That the “e” should be dropped. Mercedes-Benz is showing that League of Legends is a sport. And so here’s a sports legend bringing the trophy. The tie-in being that Roger is going back to the O2 Arena is just perfect, infusing this whole association with emotion and added hype.
The #Worlds2024 trophy arrival presented by @MercedesBenz! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/kidAdqt903
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) November 2, 2024
Mercedes-Benz also co-creates the Championship Rings for the tournament, and have created digital assets that can be used in-game, which added another interesting layer to their activation.
Mastercard continued to impress as a long-time sponsor, bringing authenticity to their Worlds presence. From presenting the Opening Ceremony to hosting fan experiences like the Custom Club merch station, they leaned into their “Priceless Experiences” theme.
Day 2 of the #Worlds2024 Fan Fest is here! Stop by the Mastercard Custom Club to customize your Riot merch! 🔴🟠 pic.twitter.com/JNHDI7vVgH
— MastercardGG (@MastercardGG) November 1, 2024
Right next to the official merch store of the event, Mastercard had their “Custom Club” where fans could customize their merch in different ways. There is a larger shift towards personalization yes, however this is likely rooted in an audience insight, as gamers love to customize their game in some way, from choosing a unique nickname, to their choice of digital cosmetics and skins, having the ability to insert part of their personality in how they show up in-game is highly valuable, and the Custom Club allows them to do just that, offline.
Lucky fans were also able to get access to the opening ceremony rehearsal. This is all nicely tied to the theme Priceless Experiences.
POV: You just saw a sneak peek of the #Worlds2024 Opening Ceremony 👀 pic.twitter.com/cU2i5JLkgd
— MastercardGG (@MastercardGG) November 2, 2024
In 2023, Mastercard partnered with one of the largest esports organizations, G2, to launch the Mastercard Gamer Academy. A year-long program that provides gamers with an opportunity to kickstart their professional esports career, inclusive of fully paid trips to the G2 esports HQ and training facilities, as well as a wide range of digital mentorship sessions with Academy ambassadors. Worlds was the ideal stage to announce that the class of 2025 was now accepting applications.
How Mastercard has brought Priceless Experiences to Worlds shows an in-depth understanding of this audience and the community at large, allowing the brand to generate significant brand equity out of this partnership, reinforcing their brand positioning—that Mastercard connects you to “priceless possibilities.” Let us be reminded, we’re talking about the #2 most valuable global brand in the financial category here, per Kantar.
The best brands of the world don’t take breaks, and continuously seek out new spaces and opportunities. Red Bull is a perfect example. The brand has a consistent strategy, masterfully executed over many years, with events playing a key role in delivering and reinforcing their core message.
The leader of energy drinks has been a Worlds partner since 2019, and as expected, they executed a flawless strategy with activations that blended seamlessly into the event’s high-energy atmosphere. They had a Fan Fest booth and their iconic Baron Power Play graphic that amped up the excitement during critical game moments.
We know that brands today are built on social. And Red Bull’s feed on X was pure gold during the Finals, honestly among the best I’ve seen from a consumer brand during a live event. And throughout the tournament, the brand’s social team demonstrated their in-depth understanding of esports culture and its nuances, as reflected in the use of insider language, symbols, memes, and more. Chef’s kiss.
damn he's good pic.twitter.com/mxHFbfyfK2
— Red Bull Gaming (@redbullgaming) October 30, 2024
Their sponsorship of T1, the winning team and the most decorated squad in League of Legends history, was the cherry on top. Nice scouting there, Red Bull!
Amazon Web Services has been the official cloud services provider for Worlds since 2022. During each game, a win probability graphic showed which team was more likely to win the match, “powered by AWS,” adding a compelling data-driven element to the broadcasts.
Amazon has an entire microsite dedicated to the partnership. Being that the Worlds Finals is the largest esports event in history, the partnership reinforces AWS positioning as the leader in cloud. While clearly a B2B play, I still think there’s value from a B2C perspective. This blog is hosted on AWS, is that overkill or just great marketing?
These tournaments take place in different stadiums all over the world, and are streamed directly to platforms like Twitch and YouTube, in my experience, without hiccups. So whether you are a business, a player, or a fan, AWS is reinforcing that positioning as a leader in the space. If you are interested in digging deeper into the techie stuff, here’s a 4 minute video you can use as a starting point: Cloud and The Rise of Esports by WIRED Brand Lab.
Speaking of networking, Cisco has been a partner since 2020, as the official enterprise technology and security partner for all global events. For Worlds, in-game banners displayed their logo, alongside other partners such as HP’s Omen/HyperX (official technology partner, monitor and peripheral provider), and Secret Lab (official gaming chairs).
As esports continue to evolve, they will provide brands with valuable, brand-enhancing opportunities. Perhaps next year, Worlds will make it into the global events calendar of many more brands.
