League of Legends is one of the most popular eSports in the world, with some of the most developed professional competitions and an established community of followers. According to the organizer, in 2021, the League of Legends World Championship attracted an audience peak of around 74 million simultaneous live viewers, with an average audience of around 30 million people, which makes it one of most watched eSports events around the world. With the statement "Level up your dreams", Banco Santander wants to be part of a new community and connect with the younger generations helping them to prosper.
The partnership with the European League of Legends Championship and Liga Latinoamérica is a 100% digital media deal that will complement the bank's other global sponsorships such as F1 and football. This agreement will allow the bank to also sponsor the Brazilian League of Legends Championship (CBLOL). The bank also has previous local experience in this field, with Openbank being the sponsor of the Spanish national competition (Superliga).
As a partner for these eSports leagues in Europe (LEC) and Latin America (LLA and CBLOL), Santander will have a variety of assets to promote the brand and raise awareness of League of Legends communities during the events, including: placement of logos, dedicated content segments, commercial slpts during broadcast breaks, banners, drops and VIP tickets for the finals, among others.
Juan Manuel Cendoya, global director of communications, corporate marketing and research at Banco Santander, said: "We are excited to announce this new collaboration with a very innovative partner, with whom we are united by our attributes of innovation, diversity and digitalization. that entering the world of eSports will bring Santander opportunities to engage with new generations of digital natives and help them thrive."
Maximilian Schmidt, Head of League of Legends eSports EMEA, said: "We are delighted to collaborate with a global banking institution committed to innovation, digital transformation and providing the best possible services to younger generations."
Global presentation
On June 14, a global launch event was held in Madrid, Spain. Hosted by Medic, an iconic League of Legends idol with over 250,000 followers, the event was streamed globally on Twitch and other platforms by Spanish streamer Cristinini, who has over three million followers. The launch included a freestyle extravaganza, featuring several well-known artists from younger audiences, such as singer Nicki Nicole, rapper Chuty and freestyle champion Sara Socas, and featuring some of the most well-known LOL players from different countries, such as Alan Q. , Inspired and Jukes.
The League of Legends European Championship (LEC) was launched in January 2019 and has become the most watched sports league in Europe. Comprised of ten teams that compete weekly in two 12-week seasons, the LEC culminates each season in a live final on stages across Europe, including Rotterdam and Athens. The LEC has several main sponsors including KitKat, KIA, LG UltraGear, Beko, Logitech, Red Bull, Warner Music, and now Santander. As of spring 2021, the LEC's average audience in minutes - followers watching at the same time - is consistently over 470,000 people in seven languages.
Liga Latinoamérica (LLA) is the largest professional League of Legends competition in Latin America since 2019. It is made up of eight teams that compete in two seasons a year: Spring and Summer. The winner of the Spring Division qualifies for the Play-Ins phase of the League of Legends World Championship (League of Legends' biggest and most important competition). Since 2020, the competition has been held in Mexico City with the finals played in different cities in the region, such as Santiago and Buenos Aires. In 2022, the competition announced a new format that includes a Double Elimination and a Winners and Losers category.
Source: GMB
