Over the past week, the Chinese esports industry has seen a major livestreaming platform’s U.S. IPO announced, new game regulations by the Chinese government and a game publisher, and an esports team receiving a lifetime ban for cheating.
Among the top stories: Samsung signed a partnership with World Cyber Games 2019 Xi’an; Nike & LPL’s jointly branded t-shirt came to light; esports organization Dragon Gate Team received a ban in League of Legends 
Master Series (LMS) by Garena; the Chinese government and Tencent both updated their game regulations; Chinese organization D7G acquired TeamFire PUBG team; and Douyu filed for a potential $500M IPO at the New York Stock Exchange.
Every week The Esports Observer presents the biggest esports business news in China, including investments, acquisitions, sponsorships, and other major news from the region.
Nike & LPL First Co-Branded T-Shirt Comes to Light
Credit: Nike/LPL
On April 21, Nike unveiled its first “Nike X LPL” co-branded “Gamer” t-shirt to the public. The t-shirt was made available for purchase at the League of Legends online store on April 21.
The “Gamer” t-shirt first appeared during the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) Spring Season Grand Final. Invictus Gaming (IG) won that tournament, and IG players wore it as they stood on the podium.
On Feb. 22, Nike signed a four-year apparel sponsorship deal with TJ Sports for China’s LPL. According to Chinese media outlet Lanxiong Sports, the deal is valued at ¥50M ($7.48M) a year, including cash and equivalent products. For Nike and LPL, the “Gamer” t-shirt is the first co-branded product in their apparel line. They also claimed that the co-branded apparel will be sold to the public after the 2019 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational. More “Nike X LPL” esports-themed apparel are expected to come to light soon.
LMS Bans Esports Organization Dragon Gate Team for Cheating
Credit: Garena
On April 24, Garena
