FAW-Audi becomes title sponsor for LPL’s Weibo Gaming

Chinese League of Legends Professional League (LPL) team Weibo Gaming (WBG) announced Tuesday that it signed a title sponsorship offer with car manufacturer FAW-Audi. WBG has rebranded to WBG FAW-Audi, and Audi’s basic “four rings” emblem has been highlighted on the remaining chest of WBG’s crew jersey. Fiscal phrases of the deal had been not disclosed.

FAW-Audi is a subsidiary brand name of FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd, a large-scale joint venture concerning China Faw Team Corp., German Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, and Volkswagen (China) Expense Co., Ltd. This is the second time that FAW-Audi has sponsored an LPL team. Ahead of the League of Legends Planet Championship 2020, the manufacturer signed a sponsorship offer with a further LPL crew, Leading Esports (TES).

WBG is a critical esports property for China’s biggest social media platform, Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of Twitter). In November, Weibo acquired the LPL group Suning Gaming (SN) and a franchise slot from Chinese e-commerce huge Suning, 1 of the major esports acquisitions in 2021. While the FAW-Audi deal only capabilities the WBG LPL team, WBG also has competed in PUBG, Honor of Kings, and Peacekeeper Elite in China. Most importantly, it has prospective affect on social media Weibo, which may be 1 of the secondary causes that FAW Audi undertook this partnership.

Apart from WBG, 7 of the LPL’s 17 teams have automotive sponsorships: Invictus Gaming (IG), FunPlus Phoenix (FPX), Royal In no way Give Up (RNG), Bilibili Gaming (BLG), Edward Gaming (EDG), TES and Victory 5 (V5) are sponsored by Chevrolet, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Morris Garages, Hycan, FAW-Audi and BYD Vehicle.