T1

Divisions	League of Legends Valorant
Founded	April 13, 2004; 21 years ago (2004-04-13)
Based in	Seoul, South Korea
Colors	Red, white, and black
CEO	Joe Marsh
Partners	Red Sea Global,SK Telecom, ABLY,Samsung Electronics,Red Bull,Spotify,Soop, Goal Studio,Woori Bank[1]
Parent group	SK Telecom (54%) Comcast Spectacor (34%) Highland Capital (12%)
Website	t1.gg

T1 (previously known asSK Telecom T1 orSKT T1) is a South Koreanesports organization operated by T1 Entertainment & Sports, a joint venture betweenSK Telecom andComcast Spectacor. The team that would become SKT T1 was originally founded in 2002 byStarCraft playerLim "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'sLeague of Legends team has won a record sixLeague of Legends World Championship titles (2013,2015,2016,2023,2024 and2025) and tenLeague of Legends Champions Korea championships, also a record. In addition, they have won twoMid-Season Invitational titles (2016 and2017), oneEsports World Cup title (2024), and oneKeSPA Cup (2025).

The team that would become T1 was originally founded in 2002 byStarCraft playerLim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan under the name Team Orion, which was later renamed to 4 Union in December 2003.^[2] On April 13, 2004, South Korean wireless carrierSK Telecom sponsored the team with an investment ofUS$2 million, officially creating the team SK Telecom T1; by May 2005, it was estimated to have earned $15 million worth of market effects.^[3][4]

On December 13, 2012, SK Telecom expanded intoLeague 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 secondLeague of Legends team, SK Telecom T1 K.^[5]

In 2016, SKT closed theirStarCraft II division, afterKeSPA announced that they would be discontinuing theProleague.^[6]

In 2018, SK Telecom T1 expanded into two more esports, establishing aHearthstone division on July 29 and aPlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds division on August 13.^[7][8] 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., andApex Legends.^[9]

In October 2019, SK Telecom T1 was rebranded to simply T1, after SK Telecom andComcast Spectacor partnered to create T1 Entertainment & Sports, and Joe Marsh was named theCEO.^[9]League of Legends playerLee "Faker" Sang-hyeok then became a part-owner of T1 Entertainment & Sports in February 2020.^[10]

On March 9, 2020, T1 signed its first player to its newly formedValorant team.^[11]

On May 6, 2024, the Esports World Cup Foundation, funded by the Saudi ArabiaPublic Investment Fund and organizers of the Esports World Cup tournament series, announced the 30 organizations that would make up the World Cup Club Support Program, with T1 being one of them. This program gives teams a one-time six-figure stipend if an organization is willing to enter new esports as well as additional funding each year if they drive viewership and fan engagement to the Esports World Cup.^[12]

On December 13, 2012, SK Telecom expanded intoLeague 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 their secondLeague of Legends team, SK Telecom T1 K.^[5] In the same year, SKT T1 won their firstLeague of Legends World Championship.^[13] In 2014, SK Telecom T1 K followed their success through in the OGN winter season, winning the tournament without dropping a single game. They would then go on to win All-Star Paris 2014.^[14] However, their Winter season success did not follow through and after the Spring and Summer seasons, SKT T1 K failed to qualify for the2014 World Championship. In the following offseason,Riot Games changed the team regulations so that each organization may only have one team participating in each league. This led to the merger of SKT T1 K and SKT T1 S, and the subsequent departures ofImpact andPiglet for theNA LCS.^[15] The new team would compete under the name SKT T1.

At the2015 World Championship, SKT won the title while losing only one game in the finals for a record of 15–1 over the course of the tournament.^[16]

SKT team started off the 2016 Season by winning the LCK Spring Split.^[17] With this victory, SKT was guaranteed a spot in the2016 Mid-Season Invitational.^[18] At that point in time, MSI was the only major international tournament they had yet to win. They were heavily favored coming into the tournament, but were initially unable to perform up to their usual standards, unexpectedly losing several games in the group stage.^[19] However, they managed to turn things around during the elimination round and eventually clinched the title by sweeping the North American team,Counter Logic Gaming, in the finals.^[20] SKT placed third in the2016 LCK Summer Split, but still qualified for the2016 World Championship through circuit points. The team swept through the group stage and advanced towards the playoff round. In the semifinals they defeated theROX Tigers in a close 3–2 series.^[21] In the finals they defeatedSamsung Galaxy in another close 3–2 series, winning their third world championship title.^[22][23]Faker was voted as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.^[24]

SKT won the 2017 LCK Spring Split, clean sweepingKT Rolster 3–0 in the finals. This win qualified them for the2017 Mid-Season Invitational.^[25] At the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational, SKT topped the group stage with a 8–2 record. SKT then sweptFlash Wolves 3–0 in the semifinals and defeatedG2 Esports 3–1 in the finals, becoming the first team to win the Mid-Season Invitational back-to-back.^[26] At the2017 World Championship, SKT were considered to be strong favourites to lift the cup for a third consecutive time despite not winning the LCK Summer Split. After a 5–1 group stage, SKT narrowly defeatedMisfits andRoyal Never Give Up in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, before facing Samsung Galaxy in a repeat of the previous year's final. Despite being favourites going into the game, Samsung Galaxy swept SKT 3–0, ending their domination at the World Championship.^[27]

SKT lost to Gen.G in the 2018 Korea Regional Finals, failing to qualify for the2018 World Championship.^[28]

In April 2019, SKT won theLCK Spring Split.^[29] As champions, SKT represented the LCK at the2019 Mid-Season Invitational. They finished the group stage in second place but lost 3–2 to G2 Esports in the semifinals.^[30] In theLCK Summer Split, SKT repeated the success and defended their title.^[31] SKT qualified as the LCK's first seed for the2019League of Legends World Championship, where they were once again defeated by G2 Esports in a semifinals series, losing 3–1.^[32][33][34]

In October 2019, SKT rebranded as T1 after partnering withComcast Spectacor.^[35] In February 2020, Faker had re-signed with the team for three years, in which his contract would last until 2022. He also became a part owner of T1 Entertainment and Sports.^[36][37] In April of the same year, T1 defeatedGen.G and won their ninth LCK title.^[38]

At the2021 League of Legends World Championship, T1 was eliminated in the semifinals byDWG KIA, losing 3–2 in a best-of-five series.^[39]

During the2022 LCK Spring, T1 went undefeated in the regular season with an 18–0 record, becoming the first team to achieve this record since the league's inception.^[40] In the playoffs, T1 won its tenth LCK title, defeating Gen.G 3–1 in the finals.^[41] On the international stage, T1 finished as the runners-up of the2022 Mid-Season Invitational, losing in the final to Royal Never Give Up.^[42] The team also finished as the runners-up at the2022 League of Legends World Championship after losing 3–2 toDRX in the final.^[43] The team had qualified for the tournament as the second seed from the LCK by the virtue of having the most Championship Points.^[44]

In the2023 LCK Spring Split, T1 qualified for the playoffs as the first seed, posting a 17–1 record as all five members of the roster were chosen for the All-LCK First Team, a first in LCK history.^[45][46] The team won every series to advance to the finals, qualifying for the2023 Mid-Season Invitational after defeating Gen.G in the upper bracket semifinals.^[47] T1 lost the Spring Split title against the same opponent in a rematch of the 2022 LCK Summer 2022 finals, as Gen.G won the match 3–1.^[48] T1 was then defeated 3–2 byJD Gaming and 3–1 byBilibili Gaming to exit the Mid-Season Invitational at the loser-bracket final.^[49] At the2023 League of Legends World Championship, T1 won its fourth World Championship title, the first in seven years, after defeatingWeibo Gaming 3–0 in the finals held at theGocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.^[50] T1's top lanerChoi "Zeus" Woo-je was named finals MVP.^[51]

At the2024 League of Legends World Championship, T1 won its fifth World Championship title after defeating Bilibili Gaming 3–2 in thefinal, held in London.^[52] Faker was named the finals MVP, marking his second time receiving the honour.^[53] T1 repeated the feat in the2025 edition for their record-extending sixth and third consecutive title after defeating their rivals KT Rolster 3–2 in the 'Telecom Derby'.^[54][55]

As SK Telecom T1 / T1

TheStarCraft division of SKT was originally founded in 2002 by playerLim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan under the name Team Orion, which was later renamed to 4 Union in December 2003.^[2] The team won the first-everStarCraft Proleague, and by 2011, they had won the most championships of any team inBrood War history.^[56]

In 2016, SKT closed theirStarCraft II division after the Proleague was discontinued.^[6]

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(March 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In March 2025, the organization won its first international event, after defeatingG2 Esports 3–2 in the grand finals ofValorant Masters Bangkok.^[57][58]

• Lim Yo-hwan (May 21, 2007).나만큼 미쳐봐 [Be as crazy as me] (in Korean). Bookroad.ISBN 978-89-91239-15-9.

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