Honda Terminates Team Liquid Sponsorship Following R6 Social Media Backlash

Japanese carmaker Honda has officially announced it will terminate its sponsorship deal with North American esports organisation Team Liquid (TL) following a controversial social media post by one of the organization’s Rainbow Six Siege (R6) players, Lucas “DiasLucasBr” Dias.

Team Liquid loses Honda sponsorship after six years

The announcement was made by TL themselves, stating that Honda Motors did not decide to renew its partnership following the controversy. The car brand was the title sponsor for its League of Legends team over the last six years, and was consistently featured in multiple commercials as well as content across social media. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (AHM), the subsidiary of Honda Motor U.S., stated that the conduct “was incompatible with Honda corporate values and unacceptable”.

What caused the sponsorship termination?

TL was caught in a controversy involving one of its R6 players, DiasLucasBR. The Brazilian player, following the loss to Japanese organization CAG Osaka at the R6 RELOAD event on May 15, posted a GIF featuring an atomic bomb on his X account, hinting at a reference to the atomic bombing of Japan during World War II. The GIF image posted by Dias seems to have been taken from a segment of the BBC’s coverage and reenactment video “Hiroshima: Dropping The Bomb – Hiroshima – BBC”.

The tweet was immediately met with backlash from the community, and DiasLucasBR quickly deleted the previous post, publicly apologizing: “I made a big mistake using that GIF, and I understand that it may have caused discomfort to many people. From the bottom of my heart. It was never my intention to make any offensive reference, but I recognize that the context and choice were inappropriate,” he said on his X post.

Team Liquid Responds to DiasLucas Controversy

While the initial post by the R6 player was on May 15, the esports team gave an official response on Monday, May 19. In the apology, TL stated that Lucas would be fined for the equivalent of four months’ salary and that mandatory re-education would be conducted for all the organization’s players to avoid similar issues in the future. Additionally, the prize winnings from the RELOAD tournament will be given to a charitable organization.

One of the founders and co-CEOs, Victor Goosens, gave more context on the controversy following TL’s official statement:

“I want to sincerely apologize for the offense and hurt caused by this situation. It is deeply regrettable, and I want to emphasize that we take it seriously,” he said.

The organization’s executive also added that the tweet was not posted with malice and that the GIF referred to “how the team blew up in the match”.

“The image he chose was thoughtless, but there was no hateful intent behind it. That context matters. […] We have taken action, and we believe in accountability. But we also believe in fairness and context. We have parted ways with individuals in the past when a clear line was crossed. We do not believe that applies here. This kid deserves to play,” Goosens added.

What will happen to Team Liquid next?

Now that the deal will be terminated, Team Liquid might have some economic repercussions, especially considering how the organization was one of the top earners when it came to sponsorship revenues, according to a report by GlobalData in 2024. The number of partners in TL’s portfolio is reduced to nine, including the likes of payment services VISA, gaming chair brand Secretlab, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, and PC brand Alienware, among others.