Brazilian esports organization MIBR announced Wednesday that it has signed a partnership deal with crypto gambling company 1xBet.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This is a bit of a milestone for MIBR and for the professional Valorant esports ecosystem, as the deal represents the first official gambling/betting sponsorship for a team officially approved by Riot, according to MIBR’s announcement.
According to the announcement, the “developer’s approval follows a broad compliance process that began earlier this year when Riot announced the opening of the League of Legends and Valorant markets in the Americas and EMEA to companies in the sector.”
Under the terms of this new partnership, MIBR’s Valorant Champions Tour Americas (VCT Americas) will represent the brand on jerseys, in created and curated video content, and across its various social media platforms.
This partnership builds on MIBR’s existing relationship with 1xBet, which began with the company sponsoring its Counter-Strike team in 2022, and saw the deal expanded earlier this year to include MIBR Rap Clube. The deal also includes streamer Gustavo “Sacy” Ross serving as an official ambassador.
1xBet currently sponsors a number of esports organizations, including 9z Team, Talon Esports, OG Esports, Tundra Esports, and Team Spirit, and football clubs such as FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain F.C.
In case you are not familiar with it, 1xBet is an online gambling company with a Curaçao e-gaming license (online gambling). Companies that operate solely with such a license are often referred to as “gray market,” as it only holds one license in Curaçao, and the companies that hold them typically are in charge of their own compliance in other jurisdictions. 1xBet is legal to use in Brazil, but is not legal to use in other jurisdictions such as the United States.
1xBet has had its fair share of controversy in the past, as detailed in this report from Dot Esports.