[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Kia will continue its sponsorship of the globally popular e-sports game League of Legends for the fifth consecutive year.
Kia announced on the 5th that it has extended its partnership contract for the League of Legends European, Middle East, and Africa Championship (hereafter LEC) and will continue collaborating with the game developer Riot Games.
LEC, which opened in January, is the European regional professional league for League of Legends hosted by Riot Games. From the 2023 season, the participating regions have expanded to include the Middle East and Africa, and the league has grown in scale with the addition of a winter season alongside the spring and summer seasons.
Through this partnership extension, Kia plans to engage with e-sports fans worldwide as the main automotive partner of the 2023 LEC season and carry out various marketing activities centered on the European market.
To enhance the excitement of the matches and increase brand affinity, Kia will release ‘Mic Check’ videos capturing players before their games. Additionally, ‘in-game drops’ featuring the Kia logo for each game will be provided to the audience.
The in-game drops contain gifts that viewers who watch the match videos can use within the League of Legends game.
Previously, Kia produced promotional videos through content collaborations with prestigious European teams such as Fnatic in 2019 and Rogue Gaming in 2020. In the 2021 season, Kia released various content including opening music videos and ending videos, which received great responses from e-sports fans in the European region.
Jung Won-jung, Executive Vice President and Head of Kia Europe, said, “We are pleased to extend our partnership with LEC, one of the world’s top e-sports leagues. Going forward, Kia will actively communicate with fans and provide innovative experiences through continuous collaboration with e-sports.”
LEC e-sports partnership manager Eva Suarez said, “We are very happy to extend the contract this year with Kia, a trusted partner. This year as well, we will be able to provide the best experience to LEC fans together with Kia.”
League of Legends is one of the most popular games worldwide, enjoyed by over 100 million people monthly. Twelve leagues operate successfully every year. In particular, the European league is considered the largest league, having recorded over 730,000 peak concurrent viewers at last year’s tournament.
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