Boards›Esports

Stop with thought the Immortals was declined due to Overwatch

LinoWidge·10/19/2017, 8:38:45 PM·23 votes·1,119 views

First off, let me say I am devastated that IMT will not be in the LCS next year. However the fact that everyone is latching onto the idea that they were declined because of their involvement in OverWatch League is ridiculous.

for starters lets IMT wasn't the only team involved in this process involved in OWL. EnVy has the Dallas spot, but they were declined. C9 has the London spot, they're in. OpTic has the Houston spot, They're in. And Flyquest has a share in the Philadelphia spot, they're in.

The big thing was money. IMT was spending way more money than they were generating & were still planning to spend more with a planned stadium being built exclusively for their OWL team (THAT'S ALOT OF MONEY). Now imagine you're Riot, & you have to select 10 applications out god knows how many (we only know of 19 applicants...). IMT isn't making money (again mostly due to how much they're spending) that means if you accept them in the other 9 teams will have to carry IMT's financial burden, which will decrease profits & impact the stability of the league... From a business point it makes sense. Again I hate that we're losing IMT but, I understand Riots decision. Also some food for thought... CLG almost didn't make the cut. If they didn't get that huge investment they got from MSG earlier this year they would have been declined. So let's be glad we're only losing IMT & not losing CLG as well.

4 Comments

DarkRooster10/20/2017, 2:04:11 AM3 votes

We need C9 and IMT, everyone else in NA has been huge let down and always will be. Obviously business side has taken over the whole thing, sad for us and for our hopes and dreams.

If the challenger series - academy, whatever it is will become what was know as lcs before, we could actually still have everyone happy, but that again depends on Riot and business.

It feels kinda weird that its all business now, how we will find buried talents and teams underneath it. We were all happy when Unicorns of Love, Origen, Immortals came out of literary nowhere and could get in lcs, and i don't think that will be possible anymore in future. But seriously most of people are not going to watch top teams of NA being safe and secured in money line and becoming even huger let downs than they been all this time.

Head Connoisseur10/20/2017, 7:19:50 AM2 votes

It wasn't their ownership of an OWL spot, but rather their investment in the Live OWL events. I think that's the sticking point for Riot (in addition to all the crazy over-spending, obviously).

LegendmakerGX10/20/2017, 7:40:01 AM1 votes

Funny part is all these teams TSM/C9/TL/G2/all EU team are making little to no money at all since their main revenue all come from sponsor or investment. Riot should be lucky and remember who were the ones that made "LoL Esport" popular because it clearly wasn't them it was the teams that pulled people in to viewing LoL.

For a company that makes 1 billion dollar but can't even give a fair share to the teams unless they spend 1 whole year to win 1 prize pot is sad it was bad of a prize pot compare to other Esport until people saw how low League prize pot was to then Dota which up the pot to 5 mill. Not even sure why their championship skin is not all put in the prize pot rather then a portion, you can say they need the money but no they clearly have enough to make 1 billion to make the pot bigger.

ChompyWulf10/20/2017, 10:07:21 PM1 votes

You're crazy if you can't see a conflict of interest and a hatchet job. Has IMT been operating at a loss? Sure. For starters, this is not uncommon for new organizations/businesses. Add in that LoL teams in general do not benefit from regular income streams such as ticket sales. It puts Riot in a very controlling driver seat deciding who meets their financial expectations for a franchise. Has IMT dedicated a lot to OWL? Sure. They also didn't magically lose financial backers when they dedicated that $ and were still gunning for the the LCS buy in. Factor in this has been IMTs most successful run, they should be safe to expect more merch sales, sponsors, etc...on top of diversifying their team to a second market and another revenue stream. Are they perhaps a risky chance? Yes. Compared to other teams they are doing something right with their level of success.

The financial risk, combined with branching into a competing esport, and the repeated favoritism shown TSM while frankly the whole franchising is being exposed as a greedy grab by Riot, there is a LOT at play that just saying "risky money" doesn't excuse shutting out a rising flagship team.