South Korean esports dynasty T1 has announced its introduction into the competitive Super Smash Bros. scene. Jason "ANTi" Bates will be the first Super Smash Bros. Ultimate athlete under the T1 banner. 

T1 — SKT Telecom T1 at the time —  gained notoriety in the western esports scene with the rise of League of Legends. T1 won its first League of Legends World Championship in 2013 in front of a crowd of stunned North American fans at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Since then, T1 has captured two more World Championships along with several other titles in League of Legends behind the greatest player in the history of the game, Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok.

SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor announced a strategic partnership near the end of February 2019, rebranding to T1 and joining forces for worldwide brand presence. "We are delighted to announce the strategic partnership with Comcast Spectacor. We at SK Telecom feel that esports is becoming increasingly more popular, especially among the young generation. We have thus founded T1 in 2004 and made the number one team in Korea,” said SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-Ho.

“Together with Comcast Spectacor, we hope to become the global number one team.”

ANTi was one of the top players in the competitive Smash4 scene, and has already established himself as a top talent in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. While ANTi may be the first sign of expansion from the T1 organization, don't expect him to be the last. 

UPDATE:

T1 has also signed Ultimate competitor Larry Lurr has a player and content creator.