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Over the past week, the Chinese esports industry has seen several key developments, primarily from Tencent Games. The conglomerate continues to unveil new partners and facilities for its top professional competitions, but also experienced some of the drawbacks of hosting an esports event in an outdoor venue.
Among the top stories: League of Legends Pro League (LPL) Summer Split re-introduced Intel as an official partner; TJ Sports launched a new streaming center in Shanghai Jingan District for the LPL Summer Split; esports organization Royal Never Give-Up 
(RNG) partnered with a typeface company to create an original symbol; Tencent’s King Pro League (KPL) Final was delayed due to poor weather; and ESL was one of several companies to sign a partnership with the Beijing district of Haidian.
Every week The Esports Observer presents the biggest esports business news in China, including investments, acquisitions, sponsorships, and other major news from the region.
Intel Returns As an Official Partner of the League of Legends Pro League
Credit: Tencent
On May 31, TJ Sports , a joint venture of Chinese tech giant Tencent Games and publisher Riot Games, announced a new partnership list for its 2019 League of Legends Pro League (LPL) Summer Split.
Despite being a sponsor of previous seasons, Intel’s logo was absent during the Spring Split. It now appears on the 2019 LPL Summer Split partnerships poster, alongside Harbin Brewery, KFC, War Horse (an Energy Drink brand), HUPU, Alienware , Doritos, L’Oreal Men Expert, Yili Guliduo, RedMagic (a Chinese phone brand), and DXRacer. Mercedes Benz will remain the head partner, and Nike will be the exclusive apparel partner of the competition.
Financial details of the partnership deal between Intel and LPL Summer Split were not disclosed. Why Intel was not a partner of the 2019 LPL Spring Split isn’t known. The Esports Observer reached out to Intel for comment, but did not receive a reply at the time of publication.
The LPL Summer Split began on June 1. During the last month, multiple LPL teams rebranded:
- Snake Esports changed to LNG Esports (LNG), to reflect its relationship with Chinese apparel brand Li-Ning.
- SinoDragon Gaming (SDG) changed to Dominus Esports (DMO).
- TOPSports Gaming (TOP) changed to TOP Esports (TES).
LPL Launches Esports Streaming Center in Shanghai Jingan District
Credit: TJ Sports
On May 31, TJ Sports posted an announcement that the company has launched an esports streaming facility center in the Shanghai Jingan District. The facility measures 38.2k square feet, and includes five telestudios and five production rooms.
According to TJ Sports, it is the biggest esports streaming facility in Asia which can also achieve high-quality broadcasting signal production. The facility will apply “full remote control” production technology and an “IP+broadcasting signal production” system.
According to Tencent Games in 2018 the overall viewership of LPL was over 15B, with viewing hours breaking 2.5B.
KPL Spring Season Final Delayed Due to Weather
Credit: KPL Union
The KPL Spring Season Final, to be held in the Chinese city of Xi’an on June 2, was canceled during the second match between Royal Never Give Up (RNG) and eStarPro. The reason behind this cancelation was poor weather. Chinese police told the KPL Union that the wind levels had reached “14,” which is an average speed of 98 mph. It should be noted that the final was not hosted in a stadium like standard esports competitions, but entirely outside.
After this incident, the KPL Union decided to delay the Grand Final to June 15, and relocate it to the Xi’an Qujiang International Center, an enclosed stadium in the Chinese city of Xi’an. In addition, all audience members who attended the event will receive full refunds. If any audience members traveled from outside of Xi’an and still want to attend the delayed grand final, they will get an additional ¥200-500 ($29-$72 USD) in order to cover their transportation and living costs.
Other Esports Business News
Credit: Beijing Haidian
- On June 1, esports organization RNG partnered with Chinese company Fang Zheng to create its own original typeface, based the classic color of RNG – bright yellow. The typeface has been listed on Chinese social media platform QQ, where VIP users can download it.
- On May 30, the China Service Trade Association, China Culture Management Association Esports Committee hosted a China Cyber Games Summit (CCGS) in Beijing. Over five hundred executives from the gaming and esports industries, along with government officials, attended the summit. These included Zhang Faqiang, the former vice director of National Sports Department; Li Qilin, the executive board of Li-Ning Group and owner of esports organization LNG Esports (LNG); Wang Deyi, vice president of RNG; Guo Lei, vice president of education division in Perfect World; and Zhao Yang, head of China Nielsen. The goal of the summit was to embrace and discuss a multidimensional esports ecosystem.
