UPDATE (March 15th 2021): It’s been reported that Alienware has cut short its LEC sponsorship agreement with Riot Games following the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Riot Games’ CEO.
“Alienware has been a valuable partner to Riot since January 2019,” Riot Games told Dot Esports. “We can’t comment on our agreement with them at this time due to confidentiality obligations. As we continue discussions with them, we have removed their branding from our broadcasts.”
Original article (January 11th 2021):
Riot Games has confirmed that PC gaming and accessories brand Alienware is returning again as the official PC and Monitor partner for the LEC 2021 season.
Alienware will be providing the league with its gaming hardware for another year.
This will be the third year in the ongoing partnership between Alienware and the LEC, which began in 2019. As in previous years, Alienware has powered the LEC stage with desktops and displays.
The analyst desk will also get its own Alienware Aurora Battlestation to showcase mechanical segments on broadcast.
Alienware will also continue to present the Match of the Week segment, setting the stage for some of the biggest games of the LEC, and highlighting rivalries and player journeys throughout the Spring and Summer seasons.
Red Bull, Secretlab and Beko will all be returning as official partners for the LEC 2021 season.
The Red Bull Baron Power Play will continue to be a highlighted moment during every LEC match and various other content drops can be expected throughout the year.
Secretlab will continue to support the LEC as the official gaming chairs partner, supplying gear to the studio and the broadcast team.
And European domestic appliance brand Beko will return, presenting interviews with some of the LEC’s biggest stars.
In another announcement, Warner Music Central Europe will continue to provide the Song of the Week in the live LEC broadcasts. Previous featured artists include Diplo, Robin Schulz, and Trivium, to name a few.
Warner will also work on additional LEC content by soundtracking hype videos for the league, and it will also support the European Masters competition with some tracks from its extensive catalogue.
In 2020, Alienware’s Match of the Week brought fans up close and personal with some of the most influential players in the league, showcasing the best talent that EU had to offer, with match previews featuring exclusive comments from players and casters.
Additionally, German fans can look forward to exclusive content aiming to bring the stories of MOTW to their region.
“We are excited for the new LEC season to kick off! A new season represents new opportunities for dreams to be realised among teams, by their professional esports athletes, and by their fans watching at home. We’re proud to play a role in bringing the realisation of these dreams to life,” said Bryan de Zayas, global marketing director at Alienware.
“We are delighted to see that for the third year of our partnership, Alienware is more and more taking advantage of the cultural diversity inherent to Europe,” added Alban Dechelotte, head of sponsorships and new business for EU esports at Riot Games.
“The additional Match Of The Week content brought to German LEC fans is a token of the brand’s commitment to elevate LEC local fandoms, and we are looking forward to this next chapter of our relationship.”
The LEC returns on Friday January 22nd at 4pm GMT on lolesports.com.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
