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Esports Riot Games secure major sponsor despite claims of sexism

ESPORTS giant Riot Games added its first global sponsor today, even as the company behind League of Legends contends with backlash over claims it has fostered a sexist culture.

Riot announced that Mastercard has signed on to be the first global advertising partner for League of Legends, the world’s most-watched esport. It’s a crucial step for Riot in a year when competitors like Overwatch and Fortnite have grabbed a bigger share of the esports pie.

It is also roughly a month since the company came under fire for its treatment of women employees.

Kotaku published a story on August 7 detailing a sexist culture at Riot Games that included women being passed over for promotions, unwanted sexual advances and men questioning women about the legitimacy of their video game fandom. Other former employees have since come forward with similar claims, troubling some in an esports community that was grappling with sexism long before the #MeToo movement set off a national reckoning.

Riot published a statement on its website later that month apologising to fans and employees and detailing plans to improve the company’s culture. It has formed a team to address diversity and inclusion and recently brought in Frances Frei, a Harvard Business School professor who has also worked with Uber to improve inclusivity. It plans to evaluate its “core cultural tenets,” investigative process and recruiting.

Mastercard is sufficiently encouraged by what Riot has outlined to move forward with a partnership two years in the making. But Mastercard chief marketing and communications officer Raja Rajamannar said he’ll be monitoring Riot’s efforts and won’t hesitate to cut ties if the company culture doesn’t improve.

“For us it’s very simple,” Rajamannar said. “It’s not just Riot. Any partner that we work with, if there are these fundamental, ethical issues that come about, we won’t hesitate walking away.”

Rajamannar said he spoke frankly about concerns over Riot’s culture during negotiations with Naz Aletaha, head of esports partnerships at Riot, and she convinced him Riot was making an earnest effort to improve its inclusivity.

“Things like sexism and all that stuff, we have zero tolerance for it, not just within our own company but with the partners that we work with,” he said. “So we had open conversations with Riot and said how are you planning to address these things? These concepts that are bad. They stated both to us as to the public of the steps they’re trying to take, how they are focused etc. That gives us comfort. These guys are serious about it and they will focus on trying to get this stuff done the right way.”

Aletaha has been with Riot for nearly seven years and believes the company is “very dedicated to righting the ship.

“I personally did not experience the things that I read in that article,” she said.

“However, as a woman in this space, I was really saddened and disappointed that my female colleagues didn’t share some of the same experience that I had. But I’m very optimistic about the future and I have total faith that Riot will transform in the long run.”

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