Why doesn't Riot make college mandatory for pro players like other sports do?

waiting for WoW·10/4/2017, 4:58:18 PM·2 votes·582 views

Don't get me wrong I find pro league as entertaining as anyone else does but when you read about how pros like Faker dropped out of high scool to go pro, I'm just asking why Riot allows things like that to happen.

Almost every other pro athlete in sports like football and basketball are forced to attend college and get a minimum GPA before they can even go pro. League pros are much younger than pro athletes in other sports to, even though they don't have to worry about aging affecting their performance nearly as much as say a football player does.

13 Comments

jwebb011310/4/2017, 5:12:01 PM2 votes

when it comes to the NFL the rules that in placed is a benefit to the NCAA, the colleges and so on...

it gives the NFL a minor league program they dont have to pay for or pay the players

it gives the NCAA, the Colleges and TV channels/broadcasters etc etc a way to earn $ off other peoples talents with out paying the players.

its stupid.

the NBA added the 1 yr rule so players would stop skipping college all together and go right into the NBA so the colleges can earn $

they are in the same bed with each other.

im some cases professional golfers, tennis, even Major League Baseball and NHL can still have players straight from high school. Maybe soccer too , i dont follow soccer.

and when it comes to ESPORTS and pro player in league ... well its not a physical sport. its not like they need to grow 3 more inches and put on 25lbs of muscle to be on par with the other pro gamers ( like in other sports ) and ESPORTS is a sport like poker, chess is not like football, baseball, soccer etc is.

two different dynamics of so called athletes

Vekkna10/4/2017, 5:12:30 PM2 votes

Might be fine for decent countries. Not sure why you would require $40-150k in debt for Americans to play in esports.

Variks the Loyal10/4/2017, 5:18:40 PM1 votes

Because modern school is a piece of shit.

Barkley10/4/2017, 8:43:26 PM1 votes

Have you ever met a gamer in your life?

Most...not all... gamers are socially awkward outcasts who don't fit in anywhere. They're depressed, they don't cope with authority, and more often than not - they're smarter than almost everyone they know. This leads to boredom at school, and lack of interest turns into lack of participation, and so the drop-out rate among the gaming community is likely considerably higher than that of non-gamers.

If Riot enforced this as policy, you could probably just say goodbye to professional League of Legends.

Its bad enough that they drug test. They'd probably have twice as many teams if they didn't screen for weed.

BigBellBrute10/5/2017, 6:31:33 PM1 votes

Baseball does not require college.

The only reason football does is a minor league isn't viable. And even then it's 3 years removed from high school. No degree required.

NBA has had minor leagues at times but they've gone under. And theirs is one year removed from high school. It's not like they're requiring degrees or anything.

MysterQ10/4/2017, 5:01:37 PM1 votes

Many pro sports are allowing non-college people to enter. It is just people use college to grow.

esports, there is no college team to help you grow. you end up having to study rather than play. we don't know when "prime" is. People already think it is amazing that faker is still playing at a high level. If everyone had college then who knows how many years left a player would have.

I mean yea, people make bad choices sometimes. But let them make their choice and live the life they have. Educate them, but let them decide.

LeBron also never went to college. I mean at the peak of talent you want to use your skills (even if he started off slower).

SciFi Scrivener10/5/2017, 6:41:45 PM1 votes

NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB have no college requirement to play in their leagues. Some, like the NBA and NFL, do have age requirements that encourage players to attend college to gain experience before moving to pro, but they can go play somewhere else before being drafted if they want to.

DrCyanide10/4/2017, 5:09:35 PM1 votes

even though they don't have to worry about aging affecting their performance nearly as much as say a football player does.

How many 30+ year olds are playing professional Footbal? How many 30+ year olds are playing professional ESports? The ESports number is drastically smaller, even as a percentage, than the physical athletes.

Physical athletes don't have their game changing on them every 2 weeks and being forced to adapt to it, only for it to change again 2 weeks and have to adapt to that. Could you imagine if at the start of next year's Football season they added Flags on the field that you could score double points with if you had one when you scored? That's basically what preseason does every single year to League.

I think many esport teams actively encourage their players to get a college education while playing, but I doubt they're taking full credit semesters.