Even with restrictions that exist in certain modalities, such as League of Legends and Valorant, where the display of brands in this segment is prohibited, the practice of sponsorship has increased. In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), on the other hand, there are teams selling naming rights to take the names of bookmakers.
The betting market has also recently gained prominence in politics, as the federal government intends to propose the regulation and taxation of electronic sports betting to offset the losses with the changes announced in the Income Tax table.
One of the first teams to have sponsorship of this type in electronic sports is Imperial, called Imperial Sportsbet.io due to the sponsorship with the betting company that started in 2020, which included naming rights in June 2021 and expires in 2024. The sponsorship is valid for the organization's two teams, CS:GO, which is led by star Gabriel "FalleN", and CrossFire.
At the time of hiring FalleN and company, the CEO of Imperial, Felippe Martins, highlighted the importance that the support of Sportsbet.io had for the organization to be able to hire the members of the "Last Dance" project, since the company helped from termination fines to the budget for project maintenance.
“Sports betting houses are very present in Brazilian and global sports. If we look at football, in a Serie A or B game, we will see the presence of five or more houses, either on the clubs' jerseys, on the broadcast or on the stadium signs. The presence of bookmakers in eSports has also been a reality for a long time. Practically all the biggest national teams and the main ones in the world have a sponsor from this segment. It was the sector that allowed for a leap in professionalism, greatly increasing the collection in sponsorships,” analyzed Bruno Silveira, partner and vice-president of Imperial.
According to the businessman, the preference of bookmakers for CS:GO teams is motivated by the greater adherence of the public to this market. In addition, of course, this modality allows brands to be displayed on uniforms and communications.
Fluxo's CS:GO team is one of those that, due to the sponsorship, had a name change and was renamed "Fluxo EstrelaBet".
“Fluxo's CS line-up, in addition to being very strong and attractive to sponsors from different segments, is part of a tournament circuit that is open to sponsorships from bookmakers. It made sense for both Fluxo and EstrelaBet to have a partnership that went beyond a logo exposure relationship and could actually promote the partner that enabled our expansion to CS,” explained Fluxo, in a note.
In addition to CS:GO, EstrelaBet sponsors the emulator Free Fire team. But it is not present in the Free Fire mobile and LoL rosters, whose competitive scenarios prevent sponsorships from bookmakers to the teams.
EstrelaBet also sponsors Los Grandes in the same modality. Mobile Free Fire teams, LoL and Rainbow Six do not have sponsorship due to the ban on bookmakers. The company played an important role in making it possible to hire coach Luis "peacemaker" for the CS:GO roster.
“We present the CS:GO competitive plan for this year to EstrelaBet. Within that, we talk about structure, calendar and objectives. In our view, the ‘peacemaker’ was the best coach option available on the market and would be the signing to shine the eyes. EstrelaBet liked the sports project, bet on this contract and was instrumental in the negotiation,” explained Los Grandes partner Alexandre ‘kakavel’.
The EstrelaBet brand is widely associated with the CS:GO team, but it has also appeared in a publication with the schedule of commitments of the Los Grandes teams in various sports, including LoL. The club's Twitter profile has also called the public to bet on football matches through the sponsor platform.
“Los Grandes is aligned with EstrelaBet in showing that the platform is focused on entertainment and fun. Our role in the partnership is to guide the public on how to access and use it, so that they can learn more about this universe,” commented kakavel.
When it informed about the return to the competitive CS:GO scene, in January, RED Canids Kalunga announced Rivalry's sponsorship specifically for this team, with activations beyond the sporting aspects, such as the creation of a documentary. RED Canids did not respond to queries submitted by ge.
FURIA was sponsored by Rivalry in 2021 and Betway in 2022 and currently has Betnacional, which is promoted in the CS:GO teams (main, women's and academy), Rocket League, Emulator Free Fire and Rainbow Six.
According to FURIA, Betnacional is a partner of all the lines, but it is not in the LoL and Valorant uniforms, due to Riot Games policy, and in those of Apex Legends and Super Smash Bros., as they are games almost entirely aimed at the public from United States.
Disclosure of odds
FURIA usually publishes, on social media, the odds of the CS:GO team before matches in championships, encouraging the public to bet on their own games - an attitude that is defended by the co-founder of the organization Jaime Pádua.
“The game odds are given openly, published by the platforms and easily accessed by the public. Therefore, we don't see any problem promoting them as part of our partner's promotion. If there is any harm in that, it would be at most to motivate our rivals when we are favorites for a match, but we can resolve this within the game,” commented the executive.
In a recent publication, FURIA invited viewers to deposit BRL 9.22 with the team link during ESL Pro League Season 17 and bet in the eSports session to compete for prizes.
“We always advertise betting as an act aimed only at fun, to make a game more exciting for the fan. Through a bet, the number of kills of a Counter-Strike player, for example, becomes an additional element for the fan's experience in addition to the match score. It is FURIA's and Betnacional's commitment to cooperate with the message of healthy betting and just for fun,” maintained Jaime.
Imperial, which is sponsored by Sportsbet.io, hardly publishes publications disclosing odds.
“From time to time Sportsbet.io asks us to publish odds. When this type of activity is carried out, we take great care to make it clear that it is a Sportsbet offer and Imperial is just one of its dissemination channels,” claimed the partner and vice president of the team.
MIBR, which is sponsored by 1xBet in the men's and women's CS:GO teams, stopped publishing odds after having disclosed betting information at the beginning of the partnership with the company, in 2022. When asked about the matter, the club did not explain the change.
“Involvement with the company is limited to just a sponsorship quota and there is no impact or connection with the competitive part. The other types of electronic games that are part of MIBR, Free Fire, Valorant and Rainbow Six, are not sponsored by 1xBet because the company focuses only on Counter-Strike,” informed MIBR through a note.
Football and betting
Esportes da Sorte sponsors Flamengo Medellin, Flamengo's eSports division managed by Medellin, in the CS:GO and Free Fire emulator teams.
“As in football, bookmakers and companies that support general sports have seen a lot of potential in eSports,” informed Flamengo Medellin's advisory, emphasizing that all sponsors in electronic sports need prior approval from the club.
Betano began sponsoring Black Dragons in December 2022, in an agreement initially valid for one year, for two of the organization's teams: CS:GO and CrossFire.
“It is the first eSports team in the world sponsored by Betano. The brand also funds several football teams in Portugal and Brazil, but in the eSports segment we are the pioneers,” exalted team's CEO, Nicolle ‘Cherrygums’.
In football, Betano sponsors Atlético-MG and Fluminense and European clubs such as Benfica, Porto and Sporting. Teams from Brazil and abroad have been increasingly sponsored by bookmakers, who also support the championships themselves, as well as in eSports.
LOUD, one of the main electronic sports organizations in Brazil, recently started to be sponsored by F12.BET, the F12 betting site, a company that has the former futsal player Falcão as one of its partners.
“Our sponsorship is exclusively directed to the F12.BET platform. The partnership with F12 is focused on developing new experiences for the gaming community as a whole. We want to be present in more regions of Brazil, expanding our presence and structure in competitive lines throughout the country and the world,” said the co-founder of LOUD Bruno ‘PlayHard’.
Results manipulation
With the explosion in popularity of sports betting and now the ever-increasing relationship to teams, there is growing concern about the competitive integrity of eSports tournaments.
In April last year, Chinese player Chen ‘Jay’, from LGD Gaming, was permanently banned from official LoL championships, accused of participating in a match-fixing scheme in LPL Spring 2022, China's LoL league. In 2021, 38 players and coaches from the LPL and developmental league, LDL, were banned following allegations of match-fixing.
Also in 2021, Riot Games suspended Taiwanese player Chien "Maoan" amid Worlds, the LoL World Championship, for his association with a betting scheme. That year, LoL's head of esports, Naz Aletaha, stated that the developer planned to take new measures to prevent betting sites from jeopardizing the competitive integrity of LoL tournaments.
In a note to ge, Riot Games, owner of LoL and Valorant games, said it continues to develop protocols to prevent match fixing.
“Riot Games has implemented and continues to develop a series of protocols focused on preventing match fixing and other impacts on competitive integrity, which include rules and codes of conduct, educational projects with professional players, monitoring systems, investigative practices and other initiatives. This work has been carried out with internal teams and also external partners such as Sportradar Integrity Services, which has been working with Riot Games since 2019.”
At Free Fire, Garena also prohibits the exposure of betting-related brands, but, according to rumors behind the scenes, it may overturn this restriction this season, amid the overhaul of the competitive landscape. In a note to ge, Garena said that the teams must comply with the 2023 regulation, but has not yet publicly disclosed it.
“Maintaining the competitive integrity of the LBFF is extremely important to Garena and we have several protocols in place to ensure that all teams enjoy a fair and enjoyable experience. We also hope that sponsors of participating teams share these commitments that we defend at Garena, including creating accessible and responsible gaming environments. Sponsorship requirements and restrictions are detailed in the LBFF 2023 rulebook, which we expect teams to fully comply with.”
Creator of Rainbow Six, Ubisoft declined to comment when contacted by ge.
Valve, the developer of CS:GO, has a public note in which it recommends that players or future athletes never bet on matches in the modality.
“As a professional player, team manager or event production team, it is common to have personal relationships and/or insider information about other teams and players. Because of this, we will always assume that you have access to private CS:GO related "inside information" that may give you an unfair advantage when placing a bet on any CS:GO game or match. Betting using inside information, or even the perception or suspicion thereof, carries a significant risk of harming your personal brand, your team and your community, and may lead to exclusion from future Valve-sponsored events.”
Competitive integrity
In general, the teams consulted by ge say that they act to ensure the competitive integrity of the championships in which they participate and that athletes are prohibited from associating themselves, directly or indirectly, with betting.
Of the questioned teams, only Black Dragons said that it does not place restrictions on bets by players.
“Black Dragons does not ban players from any activities. This decision is not up to us, and they have the freedom of choice. What we guarantee today is the integrity of our competition, with so many athletes and collaborators who dedicate themselves and a lot to achieve the best performance in their functions,” commented Cherrygums.
Regulation
For PlayHard, from LOUD, the regulation of sports betting in Brazil will help with security and transparency.
“LOUD acts in several ways to, as a team, guarantee the competitive integrity of the sports we participate in together with publishers and eSports leagues. We have always heard about situations in recent years, in which betting has generated a debate about competitive integrity in traditional sports markets, but the trend is that with the regulation of this market in Brazil, processes continue to evolve and become increasingly safe and transparent for all."
Source: ge
