Multiple Sponsors Quietly Leave Evil Geniuses

While many might be due to economic reasons the loss of one of their longest sponsors, Monster, seems to have been acrimonious in nature

When the Peak6 investment group acquired the Evil geniuses brand in May of 2019 it was fair to say they had purchased the greatest name in North American esports. The brand had fallen on hard times as it tried to stabilise after Twitch divested themselves of ownership in 2016 but still boasted a talented roster of players and a wealth of experienced esports management figures. It should have been a marriage made in heaven but instead a series of baffling decisions have seen Evil Geniuses only succeed at generating negative headlines of late.

The very public mishandling of one of their star league of Legends prodigies has seen them lose a lot of fan support, while an independent investigation into the organisation’s conduct was launched by Riot Games. It was only a week later this publication revealed that they were being sued by one of their former star players in Dota for allegations of “breach of contract,” “fraud” and “deceit.”

Dota Player Sues Evil Geniuses For “Breach Of Contract” And “Fraud And Deceit”

They would also announce another round of layoffs at the end of March, their second within a little over three months.

In addition to this over the course of the year it appears a number of high profile sponsors have quietly ended partnerships with the Washington based organisation, either electing or not to re-sign deals that have come to a close or choosing to terminate them early.

Currently the Evil Geniuses website lists the following partners: Premier League football team Wolverhampton Wanderers, Peak6, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, LG Ultragear, Secret Lab and the most recently announced Chevron. With the first two names on that list being an investor (through the ownership of the Chinese Fosun Sports Group) and their owner that leaves a total of four sponsors.

The drop to this number has taken place in a relatively short space of time. We know that since November 2022 the following sponsors have either ended or not renewed partnerships with Evil Geniuses: Bud Light, Monster Energy, TUMI, Bitcasino.io and Acer Predator. These are not insignificant partners to lose not only in terms of visibility for a household name like Bud Light but also in terms of the overall financial value they would bring.  It represents a loss of half their sponsors in a four month period.

Perhaps most painful of all will be the loss of Monster. The energy drink has had an established presence in esports for many years but it’s partnership with Evil Geniuses was one of the longest sponsorship deals in the industry having lasted well over a decade. When they signed an extension with EG in April 2021 they said “We’ve loved growing with Evil Geniuses in the world of esports over the last 10 years and look forward to continuing levelling up together.” However as the Internet Archive shows Monster was delisted as a partner without statement sometime between December and February.

Sources with knowledge of the deal, speaking under condition of anonymity, said that the deal was terminated “abruptly” and finished on bad terms. Sources from Monster confirmed the deal was “not renewed” but wouldn’t elaborate on any reasons behind that decision.

It is worth noting that right now the esports industry is seeing an economic downturn that is referred to by industry insiders as Esports Winter. While the US advertising market has seen a 7% decrease from the same time last year, the esports industry has been hit much more significantly due to a combination of overvaluation, overspending and lack of sustainable revenue streams. That said established esports brands of similar stature to Evil Geniuses continue to build lasting partnerships with sponsors both endemic and external to esports and it must be of some concern to EG management to see so many brands choosing to not renew deals at this time.

While it isn’t clear if these decisions were made due to recent negative headlines and public backlash we have reached out to each former sponsor for comment and have so far received nothing in return.