Kia returns to League of Legends European Championship 2020 22.01.2020: Kia continues main partnership with LEC with new sponsorship rights allowing further brand integration into global e-sports community Popular Niro EV to be featured in Kia’s LEC marketing-communications initiatives that illuminate the company’s a

    Kia continues main partnership with LEC with new sponsorship rights allowing further brand integration into global e-sports community


    Popular Niro EV to be featured in Kia’s LEC marketing-communications initiatives that illuminate the company’s ambitious electrification plan




Kia Motors Corporation has returned to the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) as a main partner this year, building on its sponsorship of the popular e-sports competition that began in 2019.



Kia continues its presenting sponsorship of the ‘Kia Player of the Game’ segment, where LEC analysts review and select the most influential players from each of the more than 180 games throughout 2020. New for this season, Kia also serves as the presenting sponsor of two LEC awards: the All-Pro Team Award and the Kia Split MVP Award during the Spring and Summer Splits.



Kick-starting the 2020 season with a bang, Kia and LEC organizer Riot Games have teamed up to produce a season opening music video, titled, ‘I Want the LEC Back!’. The film features a catchy original track performed by LECtronic -- a band comprising six LEC casters, also known as on-air talents, who double as band members -- and the fully electric Kia Niro EV.



Just six days into the release from Jan. 14, the video had already garnered nearly 220,000 organic views and over 19,000 interactions on Riot’s official YouTube channel.



“We are excited to expand our collaboration with Kia Motors. This partnership expansion allows us to keep our strong momentum from 2019,” said Alban Dechelotte, Head of Sponsorships & New Business EU Esports at Riot Games. “We also look forward to the next episodes of on-air talent video clips produced in collaboration with Kia, which signal the beginning and end of an LEC season in unique ways, featuring LEC casters.”



Launched in 2009, League of Legends is an online battle arena game and the world’s most popular e-sports game with more than 100 million monthly players and billions of viewers worldwide. LEC viewership grew by 30 percent in 2019 compared to the previous year, reaching over 61 million people around the globe.




League of Legends players compete by controlling the ‘champion’ characters, and team up with each other as they clash for supremacy over the game’s virtual territory. The LEC represents the highest level of League of Legends competition in Europe, with 10 teams competing in the top league. Like traditional sports, LEC is watched by millions of fans who follow their favorite teams of professional players as well as high-profile casters via digital streaming channels.




“We’ve decided to continue our engagement with the world of e-sports in the belief that the rapidly booming industry works as an effective marketing platform for Kia,” said Michael Choo, Head of Brand Experience at Kia Motors. “This partnership allows Kia to communicate its future-oriented plans to shift from an internal combustion engine-based business model to one centered on electric vehicles and customized mobility solutions.”




For the 2020 LEC season, Kia is committed to offering both online and offline experiences that underline the company’s rapid progress toward becoming a world-leading purveyor of clean mobility solutions, while at the same time promoting its highly competitive and attractive eco-friendly vehicles as well as SUVs, Choo explained.




“We believe these brand experiences, via our strong partnership with Riot Games, will inspire and galvanize numerous League of Legends fans and their communities around the world,” Choo commented. “These brand experiences also contribute to the rapid growth and popularity of the prized and sophisticated League of Legends European Championship.”



The 2020 LEC season is organized into a Spring Split and Summer Split, with the former beginning on January 24 at Riot Game’s Berlin studio. Details on the date and venue for the Spring Split final will be disclosed in the future.


-KIA -also photo