21/07/2025
๐ข๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ก | ๐๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐: ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ?
Esports have evolved from a niche hobby into a billion-dollar powerhouse, but now the industry stands at a crossroads, torn between ethical integrity and explosive growth. Fans and players must decide where they stand: do we champion growth at any cost or insist that values matter above all?
On July 17, 2025, at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, T1 and its League of Legends team signed a groundbreaking threeโyear sponsorship deal with Red Sea Global (RSG), a Saudi luxury tourism developer witnessing global expansion. Under the agreement, RSGโs branding will appear on T1 jerseys and serve as the presenting sponsor for their YouTube content.
Iโm a T1 fan. I admire Faker. But I canโt ignore that this deal is widely seen as a classic case of sportswashing, a regime using flashy esports exposure to polish its global image and distract from human rights abuses, suppression of dissent, and antiโLGBTQ+ laws. This puts me at a painful crossroads: support T1โs competitive ambitions or reject the โblood moneyโ that legitimizes Saudi authoritarianism.
I want e-sports to flourish. But at what ethical price?
In global esports, Saudi money is widely unwelcomed by the entire esportsโ community. Beyond that T1 deal, weโve seen acquisitions of ESL and Faceit under the Saudi-backed Savvy Gaming Group, teams like Falcons signing elite players and massive events like EWC and the upcoming Esports Olympics 2025 underwritten by the kingdom, all raising concerns over integrity, player welfare, and ideological influence.
Nearly every major esports pillar seems pressured by financial decline, contracts shrinking, and layoffs rising. Publishers like Riot have recently reversed longโheld policies, now permitting gambling sponsors in Tierโ1 leagues to boost revenues, something once strictly forbidden. But fans have responded with alarm, warning Riot about gambling addiction, match-fixing, and damage to esports integrity.
My dilemma is kind of personal. I want to support T1, esports, and the future of competitive gaming but I distrust these kinds of actions. I worry that accepting Saudi backing risks erasing activism, silencing dissent, and normalizing repression. Iโve seen Twitter (X) threads from concerned players, for instance, a former Overwatch player exposed monthsโlong unpaid wages by a Saudiโrun Overwatch org that still owed their players thousands of money.
I know this perspective might sound rooted in Western liberal ideology and thatโs valid to point out. I donโt mean to suggest the โWestโ is a moral paragon. The U.S. and its allies have committed grave wrongdoings too, making a record of their own hypocrisy and violence.
Take, for example, President Trumpโs Juneโ2025 airstrikes on Iranโs nuclear facilities (Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan) justified as eliminating threats but later revealed by intelligence reports to have only partially damaged critical sites. Trumpโs claims of โobliteratingโ Iranโs nuclear program were widely disputed. Add to that the enduring scandals of Abu Ghraib torture, CIA blackโsite rendition programs in Eastern Europe, and the moral infirmity of Guantรกnamo Bayโs indefinite detention and torture practices, systemic human rights violations the U.S. itself has still not fully accounted for.
So yes, criticizing Saudi sportswashing doesnโt equate to blind faith in Western institutions. Thatโs why ethics shouldnโt belong to anyoneโs ideology, but rather, they should stand apart from all of them.
Money in esports isn't just a fuel; itโs a double-edged sword. On one side, it powers competition, creativity, and community growth. On the other, it can cut deep when tied to agendas that compromise ethics or silence dissent. Saudi investment, while undeniably generous, carries risks of sportswashing, hidden influence, and a history of human-rights abuses that human-rights groups have repeatedly warned against.
And letโs be clear: this isnโt naive Western moralizing. Accepting this money doesnโt make us immune to powerโs corruptive pull, it is power. While the West has committed serious wrongdoing too, military interventions, violations of international law, and systemic injustices, thatโs no excuse for glossing over another regimeโs abuses. Ethics should transcend ideology.
Make no mistake: money governs almost every arena. Hell, Iโd take a massive check in a heartbeat, itโs the fuel of everything that powers competition, operations, and creativity. But is it really the only path?
As Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto told UP Diliman engineering graduates in a speech, โHindi sapat na magaling ka. Dapat mabuting tao ka. Kung yumaman ka pero may tinapakan kang iba o galing sa nakaw ang yaman, tagumpay ba talaga โyun? Success must not come at the cost of conscience. Madaling makain ng sistema, pero sana hindi ito mawala.โ
So, where do we draw the line? Do we demand that sponsors agree to transparency clauses? That they prohibit censorship or freeze funding if criticism arises? Could sponsorship contracts empower rather than constrain voices? Could teams like T1 turn funding into leverage, using it to uplift marginalized communities or advance human rights?
This column isn't here to tell you where your line should be. Itโs to show the landscape: show the choices, the stakes, and the complexity of this world we live in. Funding can spark incredible growth, but it can also poison purpose.
The question remains: can esports find partners whose values align? Or are we destined to chase flashy deals that we'll later regret?
At the end of the day, I support the evolution of esports. But I hope we forge progress on terms that feel right, not ones we question later.
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Written by Marc Jhasper Petines
