After over two years of researching how best to enter the esports landscape, Mastercard inked a multi-year partnership last September with Riot Games League of Legends Esports, the most watched esport in the world. To kick-off the partnership, Mastercard developed a strategy around authentic engagement with this community, an audience which it had not previously addressed.

Mastercard took an insight-driven approach to this space, hereby conducting research with key stakeholders at League of Legends. Mastercard's goal for the announcement, World Championship and All-Star Event in 2018, was to embrace and elevate the community. Mastercard aimed to earn brand credibility and relevancy by delivering best-in-class moments for fans and pros to share.

League of Legends World Championship (Seoul, Korea): The Mastercard Nexus

- A physical activation site was developed with the community in mind, so that fans from around the world could come together to celebrate an immersive experience around their love for League of Legends, the biggest esport tournament of the year. For three days leading up to World’s, fans participated in unforgettable, priceless, experiences. To further amplify the activation, 20 Twitch influencers broadcasted live from the space.

League of Legends All-Star Event (Las Vegas, Nevada)

- All-Star Event presented an opportunity to introduce the brand to League of Legends pros and influencers. As the pros and influencers arrived in Las Vegas from around the world, Mastercard welcomed them with a VIP gift and an invite-only welcome reception. Once the competition began, Mastercard hosted the pros and streamers in the Mastercard VIP Lounge, providing a premier place to unwind between matches.

Meaningful engagement was at the heart of the Mastercard strategy – both physically and digitally. Since livestreaming content has quickly become the most accessible way to consume gaming entertainment, Mastercard partnered with one of the largest gaming streaming platforms around, Twitch. By connecting the brand with this social platform, it allowed Mastercard to connect with the community in an authentic way.

The strategy included tapping into the power of Twitch by partnering with global influencers who are devoted to creating relevant content for the League of Legends community. Mastercard identified 34 streamers, across 12 countries, to help celebrate the League of Legends Esports and Mastercard partnership announcement, participate and amplify the on-ground activations, as well as develop original digital content, at the World Championship and All Star Event.

At Worlds, Mastercard hoped to establish a hub of fan activity in host city Seoul. Choosing a location in Gangnam with a heavy student population, Mastercard transformed a space into The Mastercard Nexus, which was an immersive pop-up experience open in the days leading up to the Finals. This pop-up featured League of Legends-inspired engagements: playing unique game modes on high-end PC's, pro teams and players meet & greets, custom-developed augmented reality mirrors, live streaming, cos-play photo opps and esports jersey customization.

Along with the physical activation elements developed for pros and influencers at All Star (VIP gift bags, welcome reception, VIP lounge featuring player relaxation massages, a Topgolf priceless experience), Mastercard also teamed up with Hotline League, a Twitch show that broadcast, live, a series of exclusive segments during All-Star weekend All Stars and Twitch influencers/personalities

After Twitch influencers helped promote Mastercard’s experiential platform, priceless.com, it saw average daily volume increase 25% on the partnership announcement day and increased 100% 4 days later, pushing all Priceless Experiences to sell out.

During the Mastercard Nexus Twitch integration at the World Championship, influencers broadcasting live from the Mastercard Nexus resulted in 405,224 total views from 305,708 unique viewers, resulting in 31,800 hours of viewed content.

Mastercard Nexus in Korea garnered buzz due to appearances by top LOL esports players and teams, shoutcasters, and cosplayers, who interacted with guests for photo opps, signed autographs, and played 1v1 LOL competitions as Priceless Surprises.

During the League of Legends All-Star Event in Las Vegas, the Twitch talkshow Hotline League, Presented by Mastercard, had 269,127 total views from 208,586 uniques generating 10,136 chat interactions. This broadcast generated 9,116 average concurrent views, which was a 434% increase over the show’s average concurrent views.