The transfer of ownership of the League of Legends team Suning from the Suning Group to Sina Weibo is the most talked-about transfer in Chinese media over the past six months. As of now, all information related to this deal remains in the realm of rumors, meaning it has not yet been confirmed.
However, recently, Weibo has been making continuous teasing moves regarding this historic transfer. Specifically, on the official Weibo fanpage of the Arena of Valor Weibo team, images and clips of the players at their new headquarters have been frequently posted. It is not hard to recognize that this “new headquarters” is actually the Gaming House of Suning.
According to information from the League of Legends community in China, the Arena of Valor team from Weibo has been residing at the Gaming House of Suning for about two weeks. This means that Suning and Weibo have now merged into one.
The 0.0001% chance of an alternative scenario is that Weibo is just “temporarily borrowing” Suning’s Gaming House while waiting for their new Gaming House to be completed in Beijing. However, this hypothesis is clearly not very feasible, as there is no reason for Weibo’s esports organization to bring their team all the way to Shanghai to stay, thousands of kilometers away from their headquarters. The only reasonable explanation, as mentioned above, is that the two esports organizations Weibo and Suning have merged into one, and the only thing lacking is a press release confirming this transfer deal.
According to sources from China, Weibo is urgently completing the construction of their Gaming House in Beijing, and it is likely that before the start of the 2021 season, both the Arena of Valor team and the League of Legends team will relocate from Shanghai to Beijing and establish their base in the city.
Previously, most rumors had confirmed that Suning would transfer ownership and operation of their League of Legends team to the social media platform Sina Weibo, as the parent company Suning is currently facing financial difficulties and is even at risk of bankruptcy, forcing them to cut back on non-essential investments. Not only Suning, but also the Inter Milan football club owned by Suning is also having to sell off many stars to bring in transfer fees to pay off debts, despite just winning the Serie A championship.
Thus, it can be concluded that Weibo has decided to acquire the League of Legends team Suning, regardless of the outcome of the LPL Summer 2021 Playoffs, as well as the results of the race for a spot in the World Championship. In the event that SN fails to secure a spot in the World Championship, a personnel overhaul may likely occur in the next season.