With both NA and EU going over to the franchising model, does that mean, that the companies that own the teams and the sponsors that are coming in, are going to have a say in what RIOT has to do? I mean is RIOT still gonna make all the decisions about the game itself or could Nike f.e. have a say in the direction the game could go? The question includes balancing, changes to tournament formats, player transfers etc.
RiotRiot Commish4 votesIf you had to TL;DR it, franchising generally means stability because the team brands that come in can begin to build a better base for their brand (since they won't face relegation) and sponsors can enter the scene knowing that the team they attach their brand to will still be in the League in a year. If you have seen any of the Alienware Training Facility content from TL, Steve has said that franchising is what allowed them to make the capital investment necessary for that facility - I know from discussions with other NA teams that there are more of these facilities coming.
During the franchise process in NA, we were pretty upfront with organizations that were applying that their position in the league would provide them with an opportunity to provide input in some things (mainly things having to do with the NA LCS) and that some things were off the table (anything that extends outside of NA, including international tournaments and the core game, including balance, patch cadence, etc). While we certainly solicit feedback from teams (both in NA and around the world), franchising doesn't provide a platform for teams to dictate anything around core game play.
9VMS Bush I Do1 votesOn the one hand its pleasing to hear that "selling out" doesnt actually mean RIOT has sold the game JUST to generate money. I mean from a business standpoint, its important for every company to generate the necessary funds to keep it flowing and make it grow. On the other hand there is the player and viewer standpoint, which im both part of, but certainly not solo represent. The player base doesnt see the game the same way the company does and it is natural. You could even say there are 2 egos coexisting and clashing on one another. The company wants to make a lot of money and the players want to have a great and fun game to play. But to achieve the former the company has to satisfy the latter,im not implying the company doesnt want have a great game. And of course the players them selfs should look out for the best interests of the company that owns the game they love, its only natural that the 2 egos need to coexist. I just have the feeling,and its just me im not speaking for anyone here, that the company looks to attract more players and viewers, who have no idea what this game is about, rather then keeping their former model of " if you wanna be better, just play more and learn how to be better". The game is just sooo noobfriendly nowadays that its not as fun as it used to be. I WANT to be punished for making the wrong play and want to be rewarded for making the right play. Of course im not saying im in position ( elo-wise) to talk much about the topic, but i feel there is less space to outhink, outsmart, outplay your opponent. Im sorry for the rather drastic change of topics, but i just felt like that in the moment of writing this so i said, dang it just post it ,worst case nobody will read it. Im sorry again if somebody went through all of it and didnt find any food for thought, have a nice day everyone
webstar11082 votes$$$$$$$$$$$$$
9VMS Bush I Do3 votesmy hope is that with the money they get, they will start focusing a little more on the community instead of exploiting us to have a "better" lcs
webstar11082 votesLCS is growing rapidly in popularity. The community is going to turn into a rec league. They are already starting this with Clash. It is literally competitive recreation league.
9VMS Bush I Do2 votesId love to see new talent in the esports scene, but id like a more diverce game to play also, not the same old boring 20 minutes farming-20 minutes 5v5 fighting, get baron and end. I think its in their interest to make the game have longer lanes, equal value among all laners (impact at different stages of the game, for example mid top jungle in the early game and bot in the late game), more 1v1s and flashy outplays, splitpushing, engage comps, poke comps etc. like we had some years ago, maybe not all at the same time, but it wasnt as stale in gamestyle as it is now at least
GeminiRune1 votesI'm on those hopes as well. While the scene may not be as explosive as the franchising system in China, the baby steps to produce their own infrastructure is something I'm looking out for strongly.
ChompyWulf1 votesIt's all about money.
Riot (finally) changing to share a bit of profit with teams. All sponsors and ads you've seen on broadcasts up to this spring split was money straight into Riot pockets. Teams only got a smidgen of money before from Icon sales, usually just a few thousand dollars for a year. Riot also used to have more stringent policies about how teams could use sponsors logos on jerseys and product, which coupled with the fear of relegation made many teams struggle to secure sponsors. Teams will revenue so giants such as TSM give a slice that is shared among less popular teams.
The downfall of this is that Riot was able to demand a big up front buy in. Most recently teams paid for a slot in LCS for 2 million and kept it by playing well enough. Riot now demanded 10 million. Riot also had the nebulous selection process that let them choose who got in and who was cut out. Optic Gaming got in, rival large organization NV was cut. They also had a "third party" help analyze the "best" franchising partners. If you were wondering why a venture capitalist buyer such as an NBA owner was deemed better than an organization backed by a Hollywood venture capitalist backer, it probably boils down to the 3ed party company involved does financial business with NBA owner groups.
In the long run, LCS will be better for the teams who got in because Riot is actually sharing now. Downside is Riot was able to reshape the owner landscape as they saw fit AND demand money to get in so beloved franchises got shafted.
Edit Oh, another plus is a player organization is in the works, like a union or Players Association like sports leagues. This would mean players having more bargaining power for baseline pay and benefits, as well as potentially helping bargain a code of conduct, punishment standards, and an appeal process for punishments.