The largest sponsorship deal in esports history could be in jeopardy as FTX is staring at the possibility of bankruptcy proceedings. California-based TSM just last year signed a 10-year, $210 million naming rights dea l for its League of Legends and Valorant teams. That deal had been negotiated directly between TSM founder Andy Dinh and now-embattled FTX founder & CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
TSM had planned to use the funds from the FTX sponsorship to attract star players with better salaries, add teams in more esports leagues and open offices in locales like China, Europe and South America. The original deal signed last year saw FTX.US partner with TSM in relation to the U.S. market while FTX.com partnered with the team internationally.
Worry about the FTX-TSM deal comes amid news that Binance backed out of a deal to acquire FTX, which is having major financial difficulties. TSM would be far from alone in feeling such a sponsorship pinch, as FTX has major deals with the Heat (arena naming rights), MLB (including umpire patches) and the Mercedes-AMG Petronas racing team in F1.
Should FTX’s deal with TSM collapse, it would be the latest within esports. Crypto.com had signed a deal to be the global crypto partner of the Twitch Rivals esports league, but Crypto.com leadership decided earlier this year it would look to end the pact. Both companies agreed to dissolve the deal by the end of this year. --Kevin Hitt
