Riot Games joins forces with BAMTech

Riot·Dec 16, 2016·4 votes·25,237 views

Today we’re thrilled to announce Riot Games and BAMTech have entered into a first-of-its-kind long-term commercialization partnership to deliver professional League of Legends esports content in regions around the world. We will be working closely with BAMTech to grow revenue in our sport through various means, including sponsorship and advertising. Beginning next year, we’ll also be collaborating to push the boundaries of the esports viewing experience, leveraging BAMTech’s best-in-class technology to create additional possibilities and opportunities for fans to access, and connect with, League of Legends.

This is a game changer for our sport. As we’ve said in the past, true economic sustainability is a critical means to ensuring a sport that lasts, and this represents a major step towards that goal. As an innovator in digital sponsorship and media sales, BAMTech will help us unlock long-lasting and meaningful value for our digital sport as it matures. In BAMTech, we have found a partner equally committed to building professional League of Legends towards the lasting future we believe in for teams, players and fans. We’re honored by their faith and belief in our sport.

A leading technology services and video streaming company formed by Major League Baseball, BAMTech has designed, developed and distributed world-class fan viewing experiences to millions worldwide across its many traditional sports, news and entertainment partners. We’re proud to represent their first step in the esports world and in partnership plan to create innovative and rich ways to add to fans’ existing options for viewing their League of Legends esports content. We’ll be sharing news on important milestones and projects in the future.

A development of this magnitude could only be possible with the kind of passionate fan base that supports League of Legends. Fans always will be the foundation for strong and successful sports. This kind of commitment to, and investment in, the sport we all love is a tremendous vote of confidence, and we believe this will unlock incredible things as we build our future together.

44 Comments

Jon1174Dec 16, 201611 votes

So what does this mean for the fans (especially the broke collage student fans)

HailTheRavenKingDec 16, 20169 votes

Nothing, there will be no paywall for view and the stream will not be exclusive, Tryndamere confirmed this on Reddit.

Jon1174Dec 16, 201612 votes

Then i welcome our new BAMTech Overlords

III BAKURYU III Dec 17, 20161 votes

Indeed, I'v been watching the LCS since 2012 and 2013 once it became a big deal at the time and officially became the LCS. However I would drop that shitt in a hurry because obvious reasons.

The NidjaDec 16, 20161 votes

It means League of Legends while start chartering teams next year.

CBT WizardDec 16, 20166 votes

So is there going to be any streaming exclusivity or will the Twitch and YouTube streams still be available for free? Also is this for coverage of all regions or just the LCS ones?

HailTheRavenKingDec 16, 20166 votes

Tryndamere said on Reddit that there will be no streaming exclusivity, so the Twitch and Youtube streams will still exist.

coeurloyalDec 16, 20162 votes

Good to know. I know that if they move to a subscription-based viewing platform it would be years away, but knowing streaming will still be open is still pretty comforting.

dakm102Dec 16, 20164 votes

Love this change. gj riot and gl on this in the future :D

III BAKURYU III Dec 16, 20163 votes

What does this mean? Are we going to see games in like a Google map sort of way, like camera fixed where get to scroll around the whole map while games are going on or what?

dakm102Dec 16, 20161 votes

Not sure if it means that. they just are getting help with their production so they can focus their resources elsewhere I think. BAMTech has done work for stuff like MLB and other sports so it should be pretty awesome :D

coeurloyalDec 16, 20167 votes

This is broadcast and streaming media company. They won't change the medium, but it's likely that we'll be going directly to Lolesports.com to watch pro games rather than Twitch/YouTube over time. That kind of transfer would probably be a slow crawl over a few years. This shouldn't drastically change how we watch; it should only affect how we're getting the content.

III BAKURYU III Dec 17, 20162 votes

" That kind of transfer would probably be a slow crawl over a few years".

Meaning from the everyday twitch/youtube viewers needing to go from those sites to the Lolesports site "slow crawl" process? If so, it makes sense as for reason twitch users are loyal to twitch and wouldn't ever want to make a transition even if it's the same thing on both sites.

Also you seem to be the "big cheese" of these types of topics but I personally couldn't find it myself or I wouldn't be asking. I'v heard that the EU will have LPL regular season split style with 2 conferences and the EU will have a BO5 in each playoff series is that true? Is it the same for NA ? because I personally don't want the NA/EU to keep changing structures without the other or whats the point in calling NA and EU both LCS?

coeurloyalDec 19, 20161 votes

It would be a slow crawl in the sense that the platform (sounds like the goal is a web app or mobile app) has to be built from the ground up and Riot's broadcasting setup would have to transition to a new system, which always takes a long time in corporate culture. And yeah, the biggest part of the transition would be trying to uproot the Twitter and YouTube viewers from their platforms. I personally don't want to change, and I agree with your belief that loyal viewers won't either. They'll probably have to provide incentive to facilitate a switch to whatever tech they roll out. iirc Travis touches on possible incentives with the head honchos of lolesports in his interview.

And yes, EU will be transitioning to an LPL-style system for the coming year. However, they will be Bo3, not Bo5. They will broadcast over the same days as NA as well, so those of us that want to watch both will sadly have to juggle. announcement is here: https://eu.lolesports.com/en/articles/eu-lcs-2017-format

I wouldn't call myself a 'big cheese'... maybe just loud ;p I come from a marketing and entrepreneurial background, so the whole drama of franchising and revenue sharing going on around Riot's esports has been very interesting/entertaining to me. I've just been reading a lot on what's been going on.

TamuutJan 5, 20172 votes

Does this mean that casters will finally be paid at the industry standard?

Pippen The ShortMay 22, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Does this mean that casters will finally be paid at the industry standard?

That would be highly unlikely. But, given how long this change has yet to produce any real changes and is still a relative mystery, there is still a chance.

I suspect the new system will be ready for Worlds this year, and hopefully it'll produce good results which will drive more money into the LCS meeting market standards for producers and casters and maybe propell the LCS into a franchise/standard revenue sharing system for the teams.

Porphyry GreenDec 16, 20161 votes

"esports" is so boring to me, I have no idea why RIOT is so into it

coeurloyalDec 16, 201610 votes

They're into it because they're making tons of money from the people that are into it. There are a ton of viewers out there that are invested in esports content.

I Like Things Dec 16, 20167 votes

Literally not even a little bit true. Their main source of income has, and always will be, microtransactions. They sell a currency that doesn't exist outside their saying that it does in exchange for currency largely valued throughout the world; Thus you have a microtransaction.

There's a good reason TenCent bought them, less we forget.

coeurloyalDec 16, 201618 votes

You're coming at this from a completely wrong context; this conversation isn't about microtransactions in the first place. I didn't say 'they're making all their money from esports'. I said 'they're making tons of money' from it.

Further, nobody said that eSports is making more money than in-game purchases; Riot monetizes eSports primarly by using it as a marketing tool to leverage in-game purchases (i.e., team icons, championship skins, etc.) and physical merch. They make scrape some income out of ticket sales and sponsorships, but I would bet that most of that money is re-invested into venues, displays, player/team contracts, broadcasting costs, and prize pools. However, to pretend that eSports doesn't drive a boatload of sales would be absolutely incorrect.

I think you need to re-read the thread.

I Like Things Dec 17, 20162 votes

I said 'they're making tons of money' from it.

No, they're not. Riot was clearing impressive figures back in 2010 and 2011, long before "eSports" existed, less you forget. Those impressive figures were directly tied to the sale of RP, as they remain to this day.

Typing more words doesn't make your perception any less convoluted. Have a nice night.

coeurloyalDec 19, 20165 votes

Ok, I'm sorry that big words scare you. glhf

I Like Things Dec 19, 20161 votes

######3 days later. Hilarious.

http://i.imgur.com/W2Nxn8O.gif?noredirect

US NA LCS PigeonDec 19, 20163 votes

for the love of god, it's "lest we forget" "lest you forget" etc... and it's supposed to be used in commemorative circumstances. if you're gonna have a catchphrase, do it right

TrombuddyDec 16, 20163 votes

Your opinion really doesn't mean anything to the large esports fanbase.

ItsbeghdevDec 18, 20161 votes

Aside from confusing and/or mildly offending some of them

Maximum MordeDec 16, 20161 votes

What is BAMtech?

clamyboy19Dec 18, 20163 votes

google it

Iam5traightDec 16, 20161 votes

blah blah blah blah blah . Who the hell are/is BLAMtech? They must not be very big.

TurquoiseYoshiDec 16, 201611 votes

A streaming technology spin-off of "the biggest media company you've never heard of." Backed by the MLB, Disney, and the NHL.

Iam5traightDec 16, 20161 votes

Never heard of it. How about this; The Biggest that I never heard of its so BIG.

Iam5traightDec 16, 20161 votes

It's not even a 2 year old company dude. I just looked it up. Plus 300mil is nothing for companies that do media now today. It'sa joke company

Tesla the CatDec 21, 20162 votes

2 years? what company are you looking at? BAMTech was founded in 2000.

coeurloyalDec 21, 20162 votes

I think the confusion here may be because they changed their name from "MLB Advanced Media" to BAMTech recently.

And no, BAMTech is absolutely not small. It's a subsidiary of the MLB organization and owned in part by Disney. They host content from the WWE , ESPN, HBO, the NHL, and the PGA. Make no mistake--this is a big deal.

Also, there's no such thing as a company that just tosses around 300 million. That is a massive long-term investment in the future of eSports and its broadcasting--not some billion-dollar buyout. This is the MLB saying 'We think this is a big industry, and we want in.'

GhostwoodGGDec 16, 20162 votes

Have you ever heard of the MLB? They help run that.

Snow KangarooDec 17, 20161 votes

All it means is that there will be ads in LCS, it's no biggie

woodvsmurphDec 20, 20161 votes

Does this mean we are looking at exclusive viewing of live games via BAMTech or their subsidiaries (ex: contract out to twitch or YouTube)? Minor costs to unlock live viewing of regional or slightly greater to unlock live viewing of all regions of pro play? Not sure what people would think of that, but it does seem likely that some type of cost to view matches live will be coming -- that and/or more advertising like you see on regular television. I imagine some would complain loudly and others would not mind at all -- plenty of people sub/support streamers, so I don't think this would be much different. I honestly would be surprised if neither more advertising for things beyond league itself and/or pay-to-view live doesn't happen after how much Riot provides for free: Runes, masteries, champs, skins, badges, etc.

NoobGoesBoomDec 26, 20162 votes

I really doubt they will try to charge for viewing. More Ads? Yes. Charging? No. They're trying to grow eSports viewership. Two things will kill that dream faster than anything.

Intrusive ads (Say during games).
Making something that is now free cost money.

Pippen The ShortDec 27, 20161 votes

For those who are not sure how this move changes anything:

Riot is moving the streaming and broadcast rights exclusively to MLBAMTech under the agreement that the streaming is still accessible for free but BamTech gets the right to sell commercial rights and there is some kind of revenue sharing for the commercials between Riot and BamTech.

So while this is a big change in terms of production, the net change here is pretty minimal. The stream changes hands and Riot gets guaranteed money.