MasterCard is now set to help Riot expand its patented FPS, Valorant by sponsoring its S Tier tournaments starting with Valorant Champions. There are many details to break down in this partnership which will be important for the future of Valorant.
Valorant Esports has been growing really popular around the world. At the time of writing, we are amidst Masters Tokyo which has gotten millions of views across multiple languages. The game has gotten lots of traction and has a collection of fan-favorite agents with a growing global market.
MasterCard, the second largest payment processing company, which offers a myriad of financial services, will now extend its support of Valorant Esports. They revealed the news by writing a blog post on their website. Let us how this partnership is going to be so important for the future of Valorant.
Contents
- MasterCard to Partner with Riot Games to Sponsor Future Valorant Tournaments
- Why MasterCard is Participating in the Valorant Esports Venture
- Future Plans and Projections
- Team Branded Valorant Skins
MasterCard to Partner with Riot Games to Sponsor Future Valorant Tournaments
MasterCard is now officially expanding its Esports venture of Valorant by now providing support for Valorant Champions Tour. For the past year, there have been lots of changes in the world of Valorant. For one, we saw Riot Games partner with multiple teams across the world to earn revenue in more ways than one.
Previously teams would earn revenue by attending/ qualifying for tournaments such as the Valorant Champions or Masters events. Now, they can earn by doing so much more. Ever since the switch to the partnership era came, teams selected by Riot earn a more stable revenue. This is through a yearly stipend, in-game item sales, and brand-related content.
Although so far we have not seen brand-related content in the game. That is all about to change in early 2024 when Riot releases team-based skins. We will discuss this a little later after we cover the MasterCard and Riot partnership.
Why MasterCard is Participating in the Valorant Esports Venture
In their blog post, MasterCard Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Raja Rajamannar talked about the passion for Esports. He mentioned that there is a lot of passion among young individuals, no matter their race, ethnicity, or gender, for gaming and Esports.
Following that statement, he mentioned that MasterCard is extending its support to the Valorant Esports Venture. MasterCard was already supporting Riot’s other hit, League of Legends, but now it has extended to VCT.
In terms of the history between MasterCard and Riot, they have already been a global sponsor for League of Legends since 2018. This sponsorship for Valorant Champions Tour is to build a long-term and long-lasting relationship between MasterCard and Riot Games. It also aims to reach a wide variety of audiences that are dedicated to this craft.
Future Plans and Projections
The future is looking bright for this partnership as the Gaming and Esports industry can reach up to $325 billion in revenue by 2026. Capitalizing on a strong and world-renowned game like Valorant is a good move by MasterCard. They are set to showcase their sponsorship at the global stage of Valorant Champions which will take place in Los Angeles.
Speaking about the event in their blog post, MasterCard highlighted how Valorant Champions is going to be the biggest event of the summer for the world of Esports. They also mentioned that the world’s top teams are going to battle it out in the first major Valorant event held in sunny Los Angeles in NA. It also marks where Riot first made its debut. The event will begin in August.
It will be an exciting time for the fans as well as the sponsors as Valorant Champions gets closer. MasterCard also plans to play a huge part in the VCT Game Changers leagues to diversify their support of the game.
The main aim of MasterCard through this partnership is to solve problems in the gaming industry. They will do that by ensuring that the checkout experience is flawless. They also aim to protect the rights of customers by increasing their security measures and fraud detection.
In addition to all of these, let us take a look at the Team Branded Valorant skins that will be possible after this sponsorship.
Team Branded Valorant Skins
Valorant Esports Global Head, Leo Faria, in an interview with Sports Business Journal, revealed that the Team Branded skins we talked about earlier are going to come out in 2024. Previously, it was set to release in 2023 with the announcement of the partnership but we estimate that time constraints and other events were the problem.
Leo Farja also commented about the release of these branded skins saying, the skins will be a major part of the business model and they will release sometime next year. This undoubtedly will be an exciting time to be a Valorant Esports fan.
In addition to lots of Esports matches, newer agents, and maps, we will also see custom content related to one’s favorite teams that will release in-game sometime in the future. We do not know which teams are going to get their content first. That is everything you need to know about the MasterCard sponsorship with Riot Games. For more Valorant content, click here.
