FTX Had a $100 Million Deal with Riot Games, Also Secured Major Partnerships with Tomorrowland and Coachella
Riot Games, the maker of "League of Legends," had received almost $100 million from FTX, as court documents presented during Sam Bankman-Fried's previous trial disclosed. The company also had previously allocated around $42 million to the Tomorrowland music festival.
Because Bitcoin
October 17, 2023
Due to the ongoing criminal trial of former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, we now have the opportunity to delve into numerous other deals in greater detail.
As per a recent The Block report, one prominent sponsorship agreement revealed in court documents involved Riot Games, the creator of "League of Legends," which had committed to receiving nearly $100 million over seven years. It was widely known that Sam Bankman Fried's favorite game was LoL, which he also continued to play after FTX's downfall. Following FTX's bankruptcy and customer losses, Riot Games sought to exit this deal late last year.
FTX also had arrangements to provide approximately $42 million to the Tomorrowland music festival, a renowned event frequented by top DJs like Solomun, through 2026. Additionally, the Coachella music festival in southern California had signed a $25 million deal with FTX, as indicated in the documents.
This extensive list of sponsorship deals signed by FTX during the crypto bull market was submitted as evidence by prosecutors to illustrate Bankman-Fried's alleged pattern of risky financial decisions and extravagant spending. Former FTX insider Nishad Singh, who testified on Monday, criticized Bankman-Fried's approach to spending as "excessive." Bankman-Fried is currently facing criminal charges related to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange he co-founded.
Nishad Singh, FTX's ex-director of engineering and third-largest shareholder, acquired companies to support the crypto industry and boost Alameda's borrowing capacity. FTX lacked a system to address customer losses when liquidation prices were worse than bankruptcy prices. SBF's strategy included presenting employee Serum as additional collateral, creating a perception of increased Alameda collateral. Additionally, he proposed the idea of striking a $120 million deal with Telegram to acquire $TON tokens, with the potential for FTX to develop payment processing services for Telegram.
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