Team SoloMid (TSM) has entered into a 10-year partnership with cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Part of this agreement involved TSM renaming their brand to TSM FTX and is one of, if not the, largest branding and sponsor deals that esports has seen. TSM released a video detailing the immaculate and flawless thinking process in their recent sponsorship.
Clearly an homage to Luis from Marvel’s Ant Man, TSM portrayed key figures from both TSM and FTX engaging in nonsensical dialogue before agreeing to the deal. Andy “Reginald” Dinh, a co-owner and common face of TSM, can be seen wearing a jersey sporting both TSM and FTX’s logos, but…
The Best Steal in Esports?
Nobody is going to argue that $210 million is a small amount of money as TSM could field an entire league of their own with ten fully equipped teams and staff with that amount. But there is a HUGE problem with the deal – Riot Games will not allow FTX to be displayed on any part of their public presence when associating with any games made by the company, including League of Legends and Valorant.
According to Chris Greeley on Twitter, “FTX is approved as a TSM sponsor in the LCS, but we don’t currently permit cryptoexchanges on jerseys or as naming partners. TSM was very collaborative with us as they worked through their partnership.”
So, TSM just secured one of the largest deals, worthy of an NBA or NFL headliner, and in exchange cannot even display the sponsor on their two largest esports teams? With League of Legends already leading the way for future esports and Valorant gaining increasing popularity by the day, it seems FTX may be the largest loser in all of these. TSM Reginald has responded that the FTX logo will be displayed in all other venues, including streams, public handles, and special events.
