Riot Games has announced a new streaming partnership with Kick, adding the platform to its global roster of official broadcast destinations for League of Legends (LoL) Esports, VALORANT, and Teamfight Tactics (TFT).
Beginning with the LoL Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2026, Kick will carry live broadcasts for both global and regional events across all three titles. The deal excludes China and Korea, where separate regional arrangements are in place.
The company said the move was driven in part by Kick’s strong foothold in key markets, noting the platform has become a primary destination for esports fans in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and Europe.
The partnership, however, is non-exclusive, which means official streams will continue to air on Twitch, YouTube, and other existing platforms, with the same drops and in-game incentives available across all of them.
The deal also extends benefits to content creators. Therefore, Kick streamers will gain access to Riot’s partner programs across League of Legends, VALORANT, TFT, and Wild Rift. Riot added that the same moderation standards applied to creators on other platforms will carry over to Kick, with the goal of maintaining a safe and positive environment for viewers.
The announcement, however, has received significant backlash across social media, primarily over Kick’s ties to the online gambling industry. Kick was co-founded by stakeholders in Stake.com, a major cryptocurrency casino and gambling platform.
The company has previously taken a firm stance against gambling sponsorships within its esports ecosystem, including past disputes with organisations over such partnerships. It opened the door to betting sponsorships in 2025 but still holds rigid restrictions towards the activity, having recently blocked a sponsorship between BetBoom and Riot-partnered LoL content platform Ilha das Lendas after the deal did not follow the required approval process.
For many fans, partnering with a platform structurally tied to a gambling site represents a reversal of that position. Riot has not publicly addressed the recent criticism directly yet.
Riot is not the first big name in esports to come on board with Kick. ESL FACEIT Group did the same thing about two months ago, signing a non-exclusive deal that gives Kick English-language broadcast rights for its top-tier Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 events. And before that, Brazil’s Copa Nobru, one of the biggest independent Free Fire tournaments in the country, also brought Kick on as a broadcast partner.
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