SK Telecom T1
- Alias
- T1
- Leagues Played
- LOL - LPL Spring 131 LOL - LCK Spring 113 LOL - LCK Summer 91 DOTA2 - BTS Pro Series SEA 49 LOL - MSI 47 LOL - World Champs 31 DOTA2 - DPC SEA Div 1 24 VALORANT - VCT Pacific 20 ЛОЛ - LCK Spring Playoffs 18 DOTA2 - DPC PGL - SEA Div 1 16
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Wikipedia - T1 (esports)
T1 (previously known as SK Telecom T1 or SKT T1) is a South Korean esports organization operated by T1 Entertainment & Sports, a joint venture between SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor. The team that would become SKT T1 was originally founded in 2002 by StarCraft player Lim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan under the name Team Orion, which was later renamed to 4 Union in December 2003. In April 2004, South Korean wireless carrier SK Telecom began sponsoring the team, officially creating the team SK Telecom T1.
T1's League of Legends team has won a record four League of Legends World Championship titles (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2023), two Mid-Season Invitational titles (2016 and 2017), and ten League of Legends Champions Korea championships, also a record.
History
The team that would become T1 was originally founded in 2002 by StarCraft player Lim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan under the name Team Orion, which was later renamed to 4 Union in December 2003. On April 13, 2004, South Korean wireless carrier SK Telecom sponsored the team with an investment of US$2 million, officially creating the team SK Telecom T1; by May 2005, it was estimated to have earned $15 million worth of market effects.
On December 13, 2012, SK Telecom expanded into League of Legends esports by acquiring the roster of Eat Sleep Game, and created the team SK Telecom T1 S. On February 26, 2013, they created a second League of Legends team, SK Telecom T1 K.
In 2016, SKT closed their StarCraft II division, after KeSPA announced that they would be discontinuing the Proleague.
In 2018, SK Telecom T1 expanded into two more esports, establishing a Hearthstone division on July 29 and a PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds division on August 13. By 2019, SKT T1 had expanded to own and operate teams in at least eight games, including the two aforementioned, League of Legends, Fortnite, Dota 2, Super Smash Bros., and Apex Legends.
In October 2019, SK Telecom T1 was rebranded to simply T1, after SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor partnered to create T1 Entertainment & Sports, and Joe Marsh was named the CEO. League of Legends player Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok then became a part-owner of T1 Entertainment & Sports in February 2020.
On March 9, 2020, T1 signed its first player to its newly formed Valorant team.