- SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor will create a joint esports venture to be named T1 Entertainment & Sports.
- The new organization will include the SK Telecom T1 League of Legends team, and will compete in a variety of games including Apex Legends.
- SK Telecom T1 has won more World Championships than any other League of Legends franchise.
South Korean telecommunications company SK Telecom and Philadelphia-based Comcast Spectacor 
, owner of the Overwatch League team Philadelphia Fusion , will form a global joint esports venture to be named T1 Entertainment & Sports. The new entity will include the SK Telecom T1 League of Legends (LoL) team, which currently competes in the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) – the game’s top professional league in South Korea.
The Philadelphia Fusion…will not be part of this new venture.
SK Telecom T1 has won three World Championships – and are currently the only repeat champions in League of Legends history. Within the next few months, SK Telecom T1 will be rebranded to simply “T1.” In addition to the League of Legends team, T1 Entertainment & Sports plans to field rosters in Fortnite , PLAYERUNKOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS , Super Smash Bros. , Hearthstone , and Apex Legends. The organization has already signed players for Apex Legends, to be announced at a later date, and is actively evaluating talent across its intended list of titles.
The Philadelphia Fusion and Fusion University Overwatch Contenders franchises will not be part of this new venture, and will instead remain wholly owned and operated by Comcast Spectacor.
The joint venture will be officially announced at the Mobile World Congress 2019 exhibition by SK Telecom president and CEO Park Jung-Ho and president of Comcast Spectacor’s Spectacor Gaming division Tucker Roberts. On Feb 20, Roberts and Philadelphia Fusion CBO Joe Marsh attended SK Telecom T1’s LCK match against KT Rolster at LoL Park in Seoul, South Korea to meet the team and discuss the pending announcement. Financial terms, including each company’s ownership stakes, were not disclosed.
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“This joint venture marks a significant step for Comcast Spectacor’s esports business as we expand globally and join forces with the most successful League of Legends team in history,” said Roberts in a statement. “We’re excited to form a premier esports organization with SK Telecom and grow our businesses in new directions.”
While the new organization will look for new brand partnership opportunities, SK Telecom T1’s deals with brands including Twitch , ASUS Republic of Gamers, and Razer will remain in place. T1 Entertainment & Sports will establish operations in Seoul, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, California. Operational costs and revenue shares between Comcast and SK Telecom are still to be determined. While the new venture will be focused on esports, T1 will look to expand into other media and entertainment markets.
Although South Korea is the third largest esports market in the world, there are few top level teams in the region backed by Western organizations. The most notable example is Gen.G, which entered esports (under the name KSV Esports at the time) by signing 2017 League of Legends World Champions Samsung Galaxy, and has since expanded to field teams in various games across the U.S., Korea, and China.
