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Interregional Anti-Poaching & Anti-Tampering Policy

Riot·6/11/2015, 12:00:04 AM·0 votes·12,319 views

Poaching protections are important both for the stability of organizations and to avoid situations in which legitimate contracts are undermined by competing offers from other teams during the season without the agreement of all parties - the player, the current management, and prospective employer.

This is why, starting today, we’re taking steps to extend poaching protections from the regional level to the global level through the Interregional Anti-Poaching and Anti-Tampering policy. Formerly, there were no interregional poaching protections, but with interregional transfers becoming the norm, it’s now important that any such transfers happen in a way that does not undermine the stability created by legitimate contracts. You can find the full policy, additional context, and a database of currently protected contracts on lolesports.com/about. The contracts currently protected all conform to regional league standards meant to protect players, such as minimum compensation.

Why are tampering and poaching problems?

During the season, it's important that players aren't being distracted from their preparation or being tempted to play at less than 100% by offers of employment from rival teams.

When players and teams sign a contract they are entering into an agreement that a player will play for a team during a defined period of time and be duly compensated - players abruptly dissolving their contracts due to employment discussions with other teams during the season creates a chaotic environment for teams and players and undermines stability for teams and their competitors.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t want players to ever switch teams or find the team that is the best fit for them - players always reserve the option of exercising buyout clauses that may exist in their contracts, discussing the possibility of being traded to another team with their management, or simply waiting until their current contract is up before engaging in any negotiation they want. Ultimately, the value of contracts goes both ways. For players, contracts provide stability and the promise of a paycheck. For teams, contracts guarantee that contracted players play for their team and if a player wants to leave a team, the team management  are a necessary part of that discussion. This is an important dynamic to preserve, and poaching protections are one way of doing so.

You can read more about the new global policy, which is going into effect immediately, on our Rules Page.

15 Comments

Mewyabby6/11/2015, 12:26:26 AM7 votes

Do you realize you just said that:

For players, contracts provide stability and the promise of a paycheck. For teams, contracts guarantee that contracted players play for their team and if a player wants to leave a team, the team management are a necessary part of that discussion.

and you just played it off as though that's a normal thing?

I'm sorry, but NO! The contracts players sign are never public. The amount of money players get are never disclosed. The players are going to be publicly and monetarily punished if they want to leave after signing a contract, but the organizations which dole out receives a lion's share.

Stop acting as though your players are receiving an equal wage. Unless you're a big name, you're not going to be compensated at the level that warrants 7 days of dedicated play.

TrollFan016/11/2015, 2:24:37 AM2 votes

There we go. A truly world-wide rule. Now if we can get this for the Challenger leagues as well it'll be perfect.

UasPUWNw156/11/2015, 4:02:33 AM2 votes

IS this a other stupid idea from tryndamere?

Stupendoes6/11/2015, 6:32:13 AM1 votes

Tbh I just saw the logo and clicked it because I was wondering if Riot was going to explain the Yusui ban. I think this is necessary, and I'm glad they're taking care of it, but dang it tell me if Yusui really did buy level 30 accounts.

On the topic on hand, I feel like since esports are becoming more and more popular contracts signed by players need to be released to the public, like in major sports. That way they can compare their worth and get their appropriate value. Right now, there's really no way to know unless a player becomes a free agent and that's a risky proposition because the org. the he/she is with might think you're only worth so much and if you disagree they'll just sign someone new since there's a giant pool to choose from (although not all of it is LCS quality). Also I think Riot needs to transition into a new Free Agent period similar to professional sports. Give teams a month of "Restricted Free Agency" to sign their own players (and if the player is rated highly then if a competitive team signs him then the team that loses him can be fairly compensated like in professional sports. In this case, something like 1/2-1/3 of the buyout clause in his contract.)

The main difference in professional sports and esports in the comparison of player compensation is that there's no player's association. IF the player's unionized and formed one (though it would be the first international union that I would have heard of - though you guys will probably correct me and tell me a list of like 17 of them.) Also, League has just started really hitting it's stride. It's getting more and more acclaim with Faker even getting an interview with ESPN the magazine. The more and more publicity it gets the more freedom player's will accrue in terms of contracts. But, right now, outside of the case with Quas being like the 12th highest paid top laner in NA (LCS and CS teams), I would say the players are fairly compensated. The organizations took a HUGE initial risk when they started out with investing in esports. No one knew esports would blow up the way it has. Fortunately, their investment has paid off and I think player's will be rewarded down the line.

TL;DR Tell me what happened to Yusui.

Kioube6/11/2015, 12:26:42 PM1 votes

I can't find Febiven's contract expiry date in the "The Global Contract Database" which can be downloaded at http://na.lolesports.com/about#tabs=4

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