Mercedes-Benz Korea announced on Friday that it has signed a sponsorship deal with South Korean esports organization T1 Entertainment & Sports (T1). The Mercedes-Benz logo will be featured on the middle chest of the team jerseys. The new team jerseys will first be highlighted on the upcoming League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) in London from May 2-21.
In addition, Mercedes-Benz also announced that it had awarded an electronic branded car, the “Mercedes-Benz AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+,” to iconic T1 player and shareholder Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal means BMW is no longer a partner with T1. In April 2020, BMW first entered esports by signing six major esports teams, FunPlus Phoenix (FPX), G2 Esports, Cloud9, T1, OG and Fnatic. As of this writing, only Chinese esports organization FPX and European esports organization OG continue to have BMW as a sponsor, while G2, Cloud9, T1, and Fnatic have exited that partnership.
Mercedes-Benz is also the sponsor of the Chinese esports organization Royal Never Give-Up (RNG) and the chief sponsor of the League of Legends Pro League (LPL). It’s the first time that Mercedes-Benz has sponsored a South Korean esports organization.