IBM and Kellogg’s cut ties with the OWL after discrimination lawsuit

Earlier this week, in response to the recent discrimination lawsuit at Activision Blizzard, a number of sponsors separated from the Overwatch League, including T-Mobile, Coca-Cola and State Farm. Now, IBM and Kellogg’s have cut ties with the league as well, disappearing from the listed sponsors on its website.

IBM and Kellogg’s part ways with the Overwatch League

The first sponsor to take its leave was IBM; a recent sponsor for the 2021 season that marked its collaborative efforts with the league by making the IBM Watson power rankings. IBM refused to comment on the situation.

Kellogg’s had both Cheez-It Grooves and Pringles Wavy sponsoring the league. In a Polygon article, Kellogg’s released a statement.

“While Activision Blizzard has announced plans to address the challenging issues it faces, we will not be moving forward with any new programs this year, but will continue to review progress made against their plans,” the statement said.

This partnership started when Kellogg’s released a Lucio-themed cereal, eventually inking a deal in 2019. This led to putting Overwatch League players on some of their products. Kellogg’s will review whether they will continue as a sponsor for the Overwatch League in the future.

Few sponsors remain

The only sponsors remaining on the Overwatch League website are Xfinity, Coca-Cola and Teamspeak. Although Coca-Cola did, in fact, step back as sponsors for the league, as of now, their name remains on the website. Additionally, main tank Kim “SADO” Su-min, known for taking big chugs of Coca-Cola in between rounds, removed the Coca-Cola logo sticker from his personal two-liter bottle.