- Harbin Brewery has signed a partnership deal with TJ Sports for China’s League of Legends Pro League (LPL).
- Harbin Brewery will produce an exclusive “Harbin X LPL” joint beer pack, and design and produce customized LPL team beer cans.
- LPL and Harbin Brewery will jointly create digital content. Under 18s will be discouraged from drinking alcoholic products.
On Apri. 16, century-old Chinese alcohol brand company Harbin Brewery signed a partnership deal with TJ Sports for China’s League of Legends Pro League (LPL). The brewery joins other official partners including head sponsor Mercedes-Benz, as well as KFC, Alienware, Hongmo, Zhanma, Yili Guliduo, Doritos, L’Oreal Men Expert, and HUPU.
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According to the announcement, Harbin Brewery will produce the exclusive “Harbin X LPL” joint beer pack on its 500ml Harbin ICE series beer cans. The can will be called as “Hapi LPL Esports Can.” (‘Ha’ means Harbin, ‘pi’ is the Chinese term for beer, together, pronounced like the English word ‘happy’).
In addition, Harbin Brewery will design and produce customized LPL team branded beer cans. Harbin Brewery will also partner with the LPL to create joint digital content for the league’s audience.
It should be noted that the messaging from LPL and Harbin Brewery will discourage people under 18-years-old from drinking any alcohol products.
The LPL is the first of the four largest League of Legends 
circuits (China, North America, Europe, and South Korea) to sign an alcohol partner. Both the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) and North America’s League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) feature a non-exhaustive limited sponsorship list in their rulebooks, but neither explicitly lists alcohol brands among restricted partners for teams or the league.
Though this is the first time that Harbin Brewery has partnered with an esports tournament, it is not the first time the company has shown interest in the esports industry. In 2016, Harbin Brewery sponsored LGD Gaming when they attended Dota 2’s biggest tournament of the year – The International 2016. In 2017, Harbin Brewery sponsored five Chinese esports teams attending Dota 2’s The International 2017, including Invictus Gaming, Invictus Gaming Vitality, LGD Gaming, VG Gaming, and Newbee. The slogan of Harbin Brewery – “Hapi (Happy) together” was displayed often on the livestreaming platforms during The International.
Harbin Brewery was founded in 1900. In 2004, SABMiller withdrew its takeover bid for Harbin Brewery Group Ltd. and conceded a more than $700M USD offer by Anheuser-Busch Cos.Inc. In 2010, Harbin Brewery became the official partner of 2010 FIFA South Africa World Cup, making it the first Chinese beer brand to sponsor the international soccer competition.
