It was announced today, at the 2019 League of Legends China summit, that Tencent and Riot will be collaborating in establishing a new Joint Venture based in Shanghai with a 50% stake for each respective company. The Joint Venture is named TengJing Sports (TJ Sports).









At present, the new Joint Venture will be responsible for the operation, finances, venues, and all other derivatives of all League of Legends related events in China. Furthermore, it will not rule out the possibility of harboring the responsibilities of other international events as well as any future games from Tencent and Riot Games.





Monetization of E-sports is a huge issue that affects organizations on an international scale. Though these organizations attempt to be self-sustaining through their independent means, the general scale of E-sports are still largely interconnected with the game itself. E-sports initially acted as a tool to promote the game, the sales of the game and to extend its overall longevity. It was a few years back that investors started to elevate E-sports to a level where it would be able to provide a form of living for those involved.





League of Legends remains as one of the most influential titles across the world, actualizing the potential of the essence of E-sports. Having solidified its connection with China by having Season 7 of Worlds held there and most recently having an LPL team win the Season 8 Worlds, it has far exceeded the peak viewership of other traditional sporting events.









The Vice CEO of Tencent Games, Huang Lingdong, had this to say:





“TJ Sports will be committed to make League of Legends E-sports the most professional, influential and most valuable sporting event in China. To be a pioneer in E-sports, and leader in the industry.”









Riot Games' CEO, Nicolo Laurent, also said:





“Today, E-sports is favored by international sports and entertainment, and Riot and Tencent will develop on this basis to make League of Legends the best and the most popular sport in the world. To not only make it the top E-sport, but also become one of the best sports in China.”





This Joint Venture will act as the catalyst to form a, what would hopefully be, self-generating model and leading example of what exactly E-sports can and should be.

Source: LPL's Weibo

Written by: Benson Cheng @1337sn1per



