Team Liquid announced Duelbits, a crypto casino and sportsbook, as its betting partner on November 28th. The partnership will see Duelbits sponsor Liquid’s Counter-Strike roster and the Chess division, which features the No. 1 GM in the world, Magnus Carlsen.
In order to announce the partnership with Duelbits, Team Liquid released a fun skit featuring its CS2 team.
The Duelbits logo is prominently featured on the center of Team Liquid’s jersey, which the players will also wear at the StarLadder Budapest Major.
In the description of the announcement, Team Liquid mentions that it is entering esports betting with a “fan-first approach.”
Later, on the same day, the organization released a letter from its founder and co-CEO, Victor “Nazgul” Goossens, in which he explains why Team Liquid took the sponsorship.
Team Liquid’s partnership with Duelbits will focus on sports betting only. Credit: © Team Liquid
Nazgul starts his letter to Team Liquid fans by bringing up that sports betting is a “major part of modern sports,” and that if that trend continues, it will continue to be one of the “most influential and well-funded” sponsorships in the industry.
As the letter goes on, Nazgul says Liquid took the Duelbits sponsorship because they share the same vision.
As a competitive sports team, we can’t ignore the role sponsorships play in staying competitive.
Having said that, Team Liquid has always maintained that should we have a betting partner, we would do it in a way that fits us, and with a partner that fits us. The future of the betting industry is dependent on a healthy and sustainable relationship with users. We feel that we have such a partner with Duelbits, because they understand this and the risks of getting it wrong. Like us, they want to see betting done responsibly and marketed safely.
Nazgul mentions his background as a professional poker player in the 2000s, which provided him insight into betting.
He claims he’s seen the “good, the bad, the bad, and the parts no one talks about, like the harm it can do when people fall through the cracks, and the lack of support they face when they do.”
And, at the end of the letter, Nazgul says Team Liquid will engage with betting in a “thoughtful, transparent, and conscious way.” He also mentions that this partnership will cover “sports betting alone” and not “games of chance.”
We made deliberate choices by focusing the partnership on Counter-Strike 2 and Chess, both games with an older audience and the scope of the partnership covering sports betting alone, not promoting games of chance. We also want this partnership to create real value for the community — whether through community tournaments, great content, or direct support for the scenes we care about.
Finally, we intend to listen to you, the fans and the wider esports community. It has always been important to us that whatever we do at Team Liquid, we do it with our community in mind. Alongside this letter, we are sharing the approach we are committing to for this partnership. We want to do the best job we can here, so if you have suggestions, do let us know.
Team Liquid will play their first matches with Duelbits branded on the jersey today, November 29th, at the StarLadder Budapest Major Stage 2.
Feature image credit: © Team Liquid
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