Riot Games has announced Getty Images as an official partner of its global esports initiatives for League of Legends through 2024.
The deal will see Getty Images act as the official photo image and distribution partner for global League of Legends esports events.
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As part of the deal, Getty Images will “manage editorial photo and licensing requests” for the League of Legends World Championship, Mid-Season Invitational, and All-Star Event. The partnership will commence with the 2020 World Championship, which is slated to take place in autumn.
Naz Aletaha, Head of Global Esports Partnerships for Riot Games, spoke on the partnership in a release: “We are entering the second decade of League of Legends Esports, and partnerships with other industry leaders help to further the growth and amplification of our sport and the biggest events in our season.
“Getty Images has been the premier source of sports photography for more than 25 years, and we are thrilled to have League of Legends Esports images discoverable in their library alongside the best in sports, music, and entertainment.”
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As well as being partnered with major leagues and bodies across many traditional sports – including the NBA, the MLB, NASCAR, the NHL, FIFA, the PGA Tour, and the UFC – Getty Images is quickly expanding its presence in esports. Just last week, it announced a partnership with the W Series Esports League.
Carmin Romanelli, Global Vice President of Sports Business Development for Getty Images, also commented: “We are proud to partner with League of Legends Esports in an effort to bring their quality content to an even wider global audience. As the esports landscape experiences rapid growth Getty Images is uniquely positioned to partner with video game publishers and esports leagues to leverage our expertise in the creation, distribution, and management of industry-leading visual content for media, governing bodies, and the vital ecosystem of commercial partners and licensees that support them.”
Esports Insider says: While it was evident that esports was becoming a bigger target of Getty Images, this long-term and major deal signals exactly how serious the company is about making a splash in the industry.