Santander enters esports as a main sponsor of the top League of Legends competitions in Europe and Latin America

Banco Santander announced a multi-year agreement to become a main sponsor of the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) and the Liga Latinoamérica (LLA). In an event hosted in Madrid, some of the most recognized streamers, artists and League of Legends players helped unveil Santander’s esports sponsorship.

League of Legends is one of the most successful esports worldwide, with some of the most developed professional competitions and established community of followers. In 2021 the League of Legends World Championship drew a peak viewership of close to 74 million concurrent live viewers, with an average minute audience of just over 30 million, according to the organizer, making it one of the most watched esports events worldwide. With the claim ‘Level up your dreams’, Banco Santander wants to build a new community and connect with younger generations to help them prosper.

The partnership with the League of Legends European Championship and the Liga Latinoamérica, is a 100% digital media agreement that will complement the bank’s other global sponsorships in F1 and football. This agreement will see the bank also sponsor the League of Legend’s Brazilian Championship (CBLOL). The bank has also previous local experiences in this field, being Openbank the sponsor of the national Spanish competition (Superliga).

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As a partner for these League of Legends esport leagues in Europe (LEC) and in Latin America (LLA and CBLOL), Santander will display a variety of assets to promote the brand and raise awareness in the League of Legends communities during the esports events, including: logo placements, dedicated content segments, commercial slots during broadcast breaks, banners, drops and VIP tickets for the finals, among others.

Juan Manuel Cendoya, global head of Communications, Corporate Marketing and Research at Banco Santander, said: “We are excited to announce this new collaboration with a very innovative partner, with whom we are united by our attributes of innovation, diversity and digitalization. We believe that entering the world of esports will bring Santander new opportunities to engage with new generations of digital natives and help them prosper.”

Maximilian Schmidt, head of League of Legends esports in EMEA, said: “It is a pleasure for us to collaborate with a global banking institution committed to innovation, digital transformation and providing the best possible services for younger generations.”