Team SoloMid, one of the most successful esports organizations in operation, is better known as TSM. However, thanks to a $210 million naming rights agreement signed in 2021 with the giant cryptocurrency exchange FTX, it is officially known as TSM FTX.

According to a report in the New York Times (opens in new tab), the terms of the FTX sponsorship agreement call for TSM to pay $21 million per year for 10 years, a large contract comparable to a stadium sponsorship in traditional sports. As Sam Bankman Fried, former CEO of FTX, stated at the time, "Reimagining a huge industry in the digital age is like esports for sports, and like crypto for investment and finance."

More recently, however, Bankman-Fried has taken a different view of crypto's impact on investment and finance, as the FTX's failure has brought the exchange under intense regulatory scrutiny (opens in new tab). He then reportedly flew by private jet to Argentina, but according to Reuters (opens in new tab), he was actually in the Bahamas, where FTX is based.

In other words, the whole thing is a wall-to-wall shura, with countless individuals and organizations scrambling to get back on their feet, or at least find a foothold in the rubble; TSM is "stable and profitable," the company said, and the company has been "working hard to keep the company afloat.

However, there are still long-term contracts outstanding and huge amounts of unrestricted funds that need to be dealt with.

"Along with the rest of the world, TSM has been closely monitoring the situation surrounding FTX. We have no insight into the matter other than what has been publicly reported." We are currently consulting with legal counsel to determine the next best steps to protect our team, staff, fans, and players.

"To be clear, TSM is built on a solid foundation. We are consistently profitable and expect to be profitable this year, next year, and beyond, and we look forward to another great year in 2023."

The loss of FTX's funding will not hurt TSM much in the long run; TSM is a large organization with dozens of teams in games like Dota 2, League of Legends, Valorant, Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Teamfight Tactics. It is a large organization with several teams and is valued at $540 million by Forbes (opens in new tab) in 2022, making it the most valuable esports company operating today.

So far, the organization does not appear to be moving so quickly to sever ties with FTX. The team's website (opens in new tab) still calls itself TSM FTX, and perhaps contractual obligations do not allow it to stop using this name.