Mercedes-Benz Joins Forces With T1, Rewards League of Legends Star ‘Faker’ with Free $120K Car

T1’s League of Legends star Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, considered by many as the game's GOAT, is again making the headlines. The player just received a free electric Mercedes-Benz car after T1 signed a sponsorship agreement with the luxury car manufacturing company. 

T1 will start featuring the iconic Mercedes triangle logo on its jersey beginning at the Mid-Season Invitational 2023 (MSI 2023) and will continue until the end of 2025. This partnership will allow Mercedes-Benz Korea to increase its presence in the esports industry, and the South Korean esports organization will benefit from the support of a leading automotive brand.

Mercedes-Benz Drives its Expansion into Esports with T1 Partnership

As part of the partnership, Mercedes-Benz Korea will provide a high-performance luxury electric sedan, ‘The New Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 4MATIC+’, to T1's star player, Faker. This is a significant move, as Faker is a highly respected and influential player in the League of Legends community, and will easily increase the visibility of the car and Mercedes-Benz Korea to his massive fan following.

The partnership will also see the two companies working together on various events and activities, the details of which are yet to be publicized. T1’s CEO Joe Marsh expressed his excitement about the partnership by stating that this deal will synergize with the growth of the esports industry.

This partnership from Mercedes-Benz Korea is part of recently increased marketing efforts from the automobile brand to popularize itself with the esports audience. The company was partnered with ESL and rewarded the MVPs of ESL One Dota 2 tournaments with luxury cars in the past.

Currently, the company is also partnered with Riot Games as its mobility partner and has also rewarded 18-karat, white-gold championship rings to the players of Edward Gaming, the winners of the World Championship 2021 (Worlds).