"Team Liquid Honda" League of Legends Team Naming Rights Deal Signals Expanded Relationship and Evolution of Honda's Commitment to Gaming

• 'Team Liquid Honda' to debut new Honda-branded jerseys at League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) Summer Split
• Team naming rights deal marks first automotive to enter the North American market in League of Legends in this category
• Honda continues to evolve presence in gaming and esports to broaden connection with young, multicultural and first-time buyers

TORRANCE, Calif., June 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Honda announced today the expansion of its role as the official automaker of Team Liquid by securing their League of Legends and Academy team's naming sponsorship rights, a first for an automaker in the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) in North America. The naming rights deal – as Team Liquid Honda – also heralds the evolution of Honda's esports and gaming journey as the brand reaches out to gamers at all levels to deepen its relationship with young, first-time and multicultural buyers.

Team Liquid Honda will debut the team's new name and its all-new jerseys at the 2022 LCS Summer Split, which begins June 17. Fans can explore and try on the new Team Liquid Honda jersey in augmented reality (AR) on Snapchat, available for pre-order now, at https://tl.gg/Honda.

Honda became the official automotive partner and official vehicle of Team Liquid in 2019, and this new multi-year contract extension adds the League of Legends team's naming rights to the sponsorship deal among other key elements:

• All-new Team Liquid Honda jerseys feature the Honda logo prominently featured across the chest
• Team Liquid Honda-branded vehicles for players and coaches will include the all-new Honda HR-V compact SUV and Civic Hatchback throughout the 2022-23 tournament season
• All-new 'Honda Lounge' within the Team Liquid North America HQ, where Team Liquid Honda athletes can recharge and prep for tournaments and appearances
• The social media accounts for Team Liquid's League of Legends players will also reflect the new Team Liquid Honda branding with new banners and inclusion in player display names on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube

"Growing Honda's relationship with Team Liquid Honda and their passionate fanbase is an important part of our evolution in gaming as we work to broaden our engagement with gamers at all levels," said Phil Hruska, media department head at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "We plan to build on the great relationship we have established with Team Liquid Honda by engaging more with young fans who are gamers themselves and work to deepen those relationships with the Honda brand."

"Aligning our organization with a legacy company like Honda helps to fuel our ever-evolving fan experiences and competitive advantage in LCS and beyond," says Steve Arhancet, Co-CEO and Co-Owner of Team Liquid. "Their passion for the esports ecosystem and shared values around inclusivity and innovation, make them a valued partner and we look forward to the expanded relationship." 

Team Liquid Honda Jersey Introduced on Snapchat

To celebrate the debut of the new Team Liquid Honda jersey, fans can show support through a new Snapchat Lens where they can virtually try on the new jersey using AR and share with their friends.

The Snapchat Lens lets fans enter "game mode" to view themselves under the bright esports lights, sit in a gaming chair and don a pro headset – all in augmented reality while wearing the new Team Liquid Honda jersey. The Lens also includes a direct link to pre-order the new jersey on the Team Liquid Honda store: https://tl.gg/Honda. The Team Liquid Honda Snapchat Lens is available starting June 16 until June 27. 

Honda Commitment to Gaming and Esports

Honda has a deep history in gaming, partnering over the past decade with some of the most storied video gaming franchises, including Forza, Guitar Hero Live and Hearthstone Team Brawl. In 2019, Honda significantly grew its gaming footprint and established a presence in esports. As Honda evolves its esports interactions to connect with a broader audience of gaming fans, the brand will continue to apply the learnings from partner and fan relationships over the past three years. Key elements of this initiative have included:

• Exclusive automotive partner and official vehicle for Team Liquid (2019-current)
• Twitch partnership, including the first-ever auto branded gaming channel on the platform (Honda Head2Head), and most recently, a dedicated lifestyle channel called Honda DreamLab, featuring trending topics, including gaming
• Exclusive automotive partner of League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) from 2019-2021

About Honda

Honda offers a full line of clean, safe, fun and connected vehicles sold through more than 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. Honda has the highest fleet average fuel economy and lowest CO₂ emissions of any major full-line automaker in America, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) latest data. The award-winning Honda lineup includes the Civic, Insight, Accord and Clarity series passenger cars, along with the HR-V, CR-V, Passport and Pilot sport utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan. Honda's electrified vehicle lineup includes the Clarity Fuel Cell and Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, Accord Hybrid, CR-V Hybrid and Insight hybrid-electric sedan – to be joined in 2024 by the Honda Prologue, Honda's first volume battery-electric vehicle.

Honda has been producing automobiles in America for 40 years and currently operates 18 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2021, more than 95% of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.

More information about Honda is available in the Digital Fact Book. 

About Team Liquid

Team Liquid was founded in 2000 in the Netherlands and has evolved into one of the leading international multigame esports teams with training centers in Utrecht, São Paulo, Brazil and Los Angeles, California. Team Liquid has over 120 athletes competing across 19 distinct games, including all major esports titles, such as VALORANT, Rocket League, DOTA 2, League of Legends, CS:GO, Fortnite, Rainbow 6: Siege, and more. Led by Co-CEOs Steve Arhancet and Victor Goossens, Team Liquid is one of the most successful esports teams in the Western market in terms of competitive achievement and fan engagement across multiple sports. For more information, click HERE.

In addition to the premier esports team franchise, Liquid Enterprises operates various business units created to complement its esports athletic brand. This includes influencer management agency Liquid Media, esports wikipedia Liquipedia, and 1UP Studios, the full service production company known for its high-quality esports documentary style filmmaking, and creative commercial content.

In September 2016, controlling interest in Team Liquid was purchased by esports ownership group, aXiomatic. aXiomatic leadership includes Co-Executive Chairmen Peter Guber, Ted Leonsis, Jeff Vinik and Bruce Karsh who together represent an unparalleled team of sports, technology, entertainment and investment industry titans.

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SOURCE Honda