Riot Games allows Betting sponsors in Valorant and League of Legends in 2025?

Image via Riot Games

In a surprising development, Riot Games has officially confirmed it will allow teams in VALORANT and League of Legends to have betting sponsors starting in 2025.This decision marks a significant shift for the company, which has long been cautious about associating its games with gambling unlike CSGO. Riot Games has detailed the new policy changes, their reasoning behind the decision, and what this means for the future.This article will go more in depth about the changes the company has made to aid this decision along with their follow up plans

Confirmed News

First leaked by former caster MonteCristo on twitter a month ago, Whalen Rozelle, COO of Esports at Riot Games has confirmed this news regarding the company’s decision to allow betting sponsors in VALORANT and LOL events under some restrictions

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Till now this decision seems to be constricted to the EMEA and AMERICA regions as the esports teams in these two games were allowed to partner or collaborate with betting sponsors.

Funds for esport organizations 

It's a major decision taken by RIOT who had previously avoided any direct involvement in betting and gambling spaces, choosing to focus more on maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem of its games instead. This decision may arguably benefit the esports teams in the current space, opening up new revenue opportunities , thereby making esports financially more sustainable for organizations.

Betting sponsors will have to meet company standards 

As announced by Rozelle, Riot Games requires all sports books partnering with teams to meet local regulatory and licensing requirements and match Riot’s requirements around content and promotion for this category. 

This means that interested gambling companies who wish to sponsor esport teams will first have to be approved by RIOT.

One of the restrictions stated by RIOT is the inability to place the logos of betting sponsors on the jersey as well as promoting it on Riot-produced content and broadcast. It will be down to the ‘teams’ ability to find ways to lock in economically valuable partnerships while having set restrictions in place. 

This is an interesting approach by RIOT as they are being fully cautious and not fully expanding into betting sponsorships. This indicates that RIOT is also being mindful of the influence this decision may have on their younger audience.

Open to possible outcomes

Rozelle also added “We’ll learn a lot along the way, and we’ll make changes if at any point this compromises the integrity of the sport or impacts the high-quality experience our fans have today. Depending on how this initial implementation goes, we’ll evaluate opportunities to expand—or refine—our approach in the future.”This indicates that RIOT is being cautious in expanding into this new area and has left the future in a more open note. 

Also Read: How the TikTok Ban Pulled Marvel Snap and Mobile Legends into the Chaos

Updating Code of Conduct

Along with this, RIOT has updated its Esports Global Code of Conduct to address the emerging challenges including those related to match fixing, gambling and manipulation. This updated code now holds esports professionals accountable for the actions of their associates, if they contribute to violations. This reinforces personal responsibility and deters individuals from using their personal network or sharing insider information-where individuals with privileged information (like players or team staff) might place bets based on their knowledge of outcomes or strategies.

Conclusion

Overall RIOT GAMES is heading to a new direction in 2025 while still attempting to maintain a balance between new revenue opportunities for the esport teams while putting importance to fairness, transparency and avoiding corruption in the esports community. It is interesting to see how these changes will impact the esports community and play out in the future.