League of Legends and Valorant developer Riot Games is backing and welcoming the spread of sports wagering in its esports competitors, the business revealed Thursday. In a modification announced by president of releasing an esports at Riot Games John Needham, Riot will permit esports gambling sponsorships for Tear 1 League of Legends and Valorant groups in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

Riot states it's doing so for a variety of reasons - one being that esports betting currently exists throughout its competitive video games, and according to Needham, "70% of bets across all sports are put in uncontrolled markets with bookies who aren't licensed."

"We believe it's better to participate in enabling wagering sponsorships - thoughtfully, carefully, and with the best defenses - than to rest on the sidelines while threats to fans and stability go uncontrolled," Needham composed in a post on Riot's site.

Needham states that League of Legends and Valorant esports teams have promoted the modification in permitting sports betting sponsors "to open sponsorship chances with wagering brands to produce extra income for their financial health." Riot will likewise gain from the income earned from gambling on League and Valorant, but promises to invest a portion of that cash back into its esports programs.

Riot states it will put particular "guardrails" in location. It assures to vet and approve the betting business who wish to sponsor groups; limit advertisements for betting on authorities channels; and will disallow betting sponsors from putting their logo designs on group jerseys.

"The last thing we want to do is interfere with LoL Esports and VCT broadcasts with an influx of sports wagering advertisements," Needham says. "So we have actually established at the beginning that Riot-owned broadcast and social channels will remain betting-free, which suggests no ads, no sponsored sectors from betting partners, and no betting partner logos on team jerseys. It will depend on each group to craft how sports betting associated material shows up on their channels within the guidelines of the sponsorship program, material platform ToS, and regional policies."

Riot says it's also needing groups to "produce and examine their own Internal Integrity Program" to "guarantee competitive integrity, safeguard gamers and young audiences, and uphold accountable betting practices" - a clear recognition that wagering in sports sometimes results in player misbehavior, careless and underage betting, and other behaviors that damage the integrity of games.

"We know sports wagering isn't for everybody, which some fans have strong sensations about it, and we respect that," Needham wrote. "However, the truth is that wagering activity currently exists around our sports and will continue whether we engage with it or not."

Sports betting in the U.S., where Riot is headquartered, was prohibited at the federal level until 2018. Since then, gambling on expert sports has actually taken off and been embraced by leagues. Broadcasts of those video games are infested with betting ads, and players say that the increase in legalized sports betting has negatively altered how fans treat them.

The World Health Organization states that gambling can threaten people's health, leading to "increased incidence of mental disorder and suicide" and drive poverty. Around 5.5% of females and 11.9% of males globally experience some level of harm from betting, the WHO said, mentioning a 2024 report from The Lancet Public Health Commission. Other research studies have actually revealed betting to be a speeding up factor in deaths by suicide.