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NEW YORK (AP) – The sports giant, Riot Games, adds its first global sponsor, even as the society behind League of Legends is coming up against negative reactions about a sexist culture.
Riot announced Wednesday that Mastercard was the world's leading advertising partner of League of Legends, the world's most watched esport. It's a crucial step for Riot in a year where competitors like Overwatch and Fortnite have grabbed a bigger share of the sports cake. It also happens about a month after the company has been criticized for treating its employees.
Kotaku published an article on August 7 detailing a sexist culture at Riot Games, which included women pretending to be promotions, unwanted sexual advances, and men questioning women about the legitimacy of their video game fandom. Other former employees have since presented similar claims, disturbing some in a community of esports that was struggling with sexism long before the #MeToo movement triggered a national judgment.
Later in the month, Riot posted a statement on his website, apologizing to fans and employees and detailing plans to improve the company's culture. She has formed a team to address diversity and inclusion, and recently called on Frances Frei, a professor at Harvard Business School who also worked with Uber to improve inclusivity. He plans to evaluate his "basic cultural principles", the process of investigation and recruitment.
Mastercard is encouraged by what Riot has described, enough to go forward with a two year partnership. But Raja Rajamannar, director of marketing and communications at Mastercard, said that he would follow Riot 's efforts and would not hesitate to sever ties if the company' s culture does not work. did not improve.
"For us, it's very simple," Rajamannar told The Associated Press. "It's not just Riot." No matter what partner we work with, if there are these fundamental ethical issues, we will not hesitate to leave. "
Rajamannar said he spoke frankly about concerns about Riot's culture during the negotiations with Naz Aletaha, head of Riot's partnerships with esports, and she convinced him that Riot was making a serious effort to improve his inclusion.
"Things like sexism and all that, we have a zero tolerance, not only within our own company but with the partners we work with," he said. "So we had open conversations with Riot and we talked about how you plan to tackle these problems, these concepts are bad, both of which told the public what they were trying to do about it. concentration, etc. It comforts us, these guys are serious about it and they will try to make sure these things are done right. "
Aletaha has been working with Riot for almost seven years and believes the company is "very dedicated to straightening the ship".
"Personally, I have not experienced the things I've read in this article," she told the Associated Press. "However, as a woman in this space, I was really saddened and disappointed that my female colleagues did not share the same experience as I. But I am very optimistic about the future and I am convinced that Riot transform in the long run. "
The multi-year partnership with Mastercard is a big problem for League of Legends. The game has more than 100 million global players and has attracted more than 80 million viewers for its 2017 world championships, but its competitors had a good year. The Overwatch League debuted with global advertising partners in HP, Intel, and T-Mobile, then crowned its season with its live Premier League game on ESPN, a first for esports on the mainstream sports channel. Meanwhile, Fortnite reached 125 million players in its first year and quickly built its own esport structure.
Aletaha said the partnership "validates" the Riot space in the ecosystem of the esport.
It's also a first step into Mastercard's space, which has spent years floating before making the leap with League of Legends. The content of the multiplayer online battle arena video game was a determining factor. Rajamannar said the company was concerned about excessive violence in other titles, which could hinder the push for esports in the Olympics.
"It's more based on fantasy," Rajamannar said of League of Legends. "More strategy, team spirit and sportsmanship, it's different from killing and shooting and blood, it's not that kind of thing, so it fits very well. which we wanted to go. "
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