Riot Games is the latest entity that’s learning the hard way that crypto isn’t a fast track to wealth and success. Last year, the League of Legends studio inked a sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency exchange FTX for “tens of millions” of dollars. Riot anticipated reaping hefty payments over the course of seven years.
It was a good plan. Well, it was a plan. And now it’s bust because FTX went belly-up and filed for bankruptcy as its founder was arrested for alleged fraud and money laundering.
Because of FTX’s bankruptcy, Riot is filing to have the sponsorship deal nixed, even if the former company pulls out of this situation. Riot considers FTX absolutely poison and doesn’t want to be associated with it any longer.
“There is simply no way for FTX to cure the reputational harm already caused to Riot as a result of the highly public disrepute wrought by the debacle preceding FTX’s bankruptcy filing. FTX cannot turn back the clock and undo the damage inflicted on Riot in the wake of its collapse,” Riot said.
Riot Games just filed a motion in the FTX bankruptcy case to end their deal, pertaining to the League of Legends Championship series.
FTX still owes $6.25M (about half the payment) for 2022, and will owe $12.875M for 2023. Per the agreement, the payments escalate through 2028.
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) December 17, 2022
