League of Legends Pro League (LPL) team LNG Esports—the esports arm of Chinese apparel brand Li-Ning—announced Thursday that it has signed a title sponsorship deal with Chinese electronic motorcycle NineBot. The NineBot brand will be featured on the front and back of the team jerseys, and the team has officially rebranded to “LNG NineBot” during the League of Legends World Championship 2023 (Worlds 2023).
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
LNG is owned by the Chinese apparel brand Li-Ning, also the exclusive apparel sponsor of LPL. Four LPL teams LNG, Weibo Gaming (WBG), Bilibili Gaming (BLG), and Jing Dong Gaming (JDG) are competing in this year’s Worlds 2023, and all teams will wear Li-Ning-branded team jerseys. It should be noted that all four LPL teams are backed by large technology or apparel companies. WBG is owned by Chinese social media Weibo (similar to Twitter); BLG is owned by the Chinese video platform Bilibili (similar to YouTube); and JDG is owned by the Chinese e-commerce platform Jing Dong.
NineBot is also a sponsor of the Honor of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite teams of Chengdu-based esports organization All Gamers (AG).
NineBot is a brand of Segway; A new model of its electric motorcycle was revealed a couple of weeks ago.