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Hey it's great Riot is donating C9's fine money to charity, but isn't it a little... Much?

ChickenWrap·11/20/2019, 12:35:13 PM·20 votes·9,743 views

https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/riot-fines-cloud9-175000-for-issuing-equity-to-7-players?fbclid=IwAR2QmNgpKDsj03aijLLk75444eglWajR2SBRe2vKhjTLunAcfP6hmSZD5yY

  1. Riot had from June to actually tell them something was wrong, and they didn't.
  2. Ownership legitimately didn't know RSU's (Restricted Stock Units) were against LCS rules (which seems ridiculous because does having stock really suddenly make you an owner? Technically, I guess. But that's insane).
  3. Neither did the players
  4. C9 already has to pay out all this money now to current and former players for the stocks that were issued currently and from back when it was acceptable

Is 25,000 per player who had stocks in C9 really a realistic punishment? Probably not. Apparently, a slap on the wrist is too much but a couple thousand is too little. If you want to donate to charity so damn badly, use your own money, or ours. Don't force someone to pay an outrageous fine like that for something minute that you took almost half a year to fine them for after being given their documents. 25,000 is more than some people make in an entire year, and LCS players already don't get paid a whole lot as-is for the work that they have to do.

It just feels like a gigantic knee-jerk reaction to something that really wasn't such a huge deal and didn't actually affect Riot or its fans at all.

16 Comments

TwitchInMyPants11/20/2019, 1:00:24 PM20 votes

........ Yeah this is giving me a good reason not to support Riot's Esports.

There's been several little cases of them screwing teams over the years. Teams that vanish because of financial issues or backroom dealings and not because they performed poorly really makes the integrity of their Esports questionable. And this is because of a technical definition of ownership. Owning stocks in a company you work for is far from uncommon in most industries, its a good investment that keeps you motivated to work for your company and usually there is a cap on it so there isn't any ethical issues.

But because you technically own a fraction of a company I guess that means its the same as an owner playing on the team. And the fact the fine is so absurd when historically we used to have people like Reginald playing in his own team is just hypocrisy. I know its been a very long time and that was before franchise Esports, but this is just crony capitalism from where I'm standing.

Also you undersold the fine. Article: "As a result of the errors, Riot has fined Cloud9 $25,000 per player agreement that was in violation of league rules, totaling $175,000. But the league said with the fine, combined with the requirement C9 compensate former players with cash and current players with revised deals, it will likely cost the team more than $605,000."

C9 is a pretty solid company in Esports generally but that kind of hit could affect them longer term. It's not an industry that's very profitable for players or orgs, it mostly benefits advertisers and the game that hosts them with publicity.

Rockman11/20/2019, 12:48:37 PM18 votes

So they admit it was a clerical error for why it took that long to notice, because C9 did tell them, and they fine them anyway?

Cind3rkick11/20/2019, 12:36:48 PM7 votes

The more money to charity the better.

ModJikker11/20/2019, 3:09:10 PM2 votes

I'm more frustrated that on top of this, C9 is "donating" two of their starting players and two of their academy players to EG to help EG get started in League. Gonna make life rough for C9 as they pay out, amend contracts, and look for new starting/academy players to sign contracts with.

Seems like teams I like always get screwed over, Gambit being the main one years ago.

2Charmnot2Charm11/20/2019, 1:46:05 PM2 votes

because does having stock really suddenly make you an owner?

You realize the players with those stocks that aren’t playing in C9 had the potential to throw games to increase said stocks right?

I’m not accusing anyone of actually doing it, but the fact that possibility was an option is not ok.

If C9 had won the LCS final I bet Jensen would be getting flamed to hell by everyone right now for the potential match fixing. Is that something you want to happen?

XJ9999999999999911/20/2019, 3:21:10 PM2 votes

they are loaded, they'll be fine.

a fine is a fine, tis just money. something they have tons of.

what ends careers for these people are perm bans, someone no one got. except xj9 gg

Dimwitt11/21/2019, 4:03:54 AM1 votes

What i'm more upset over is the double standards with the new Bjergsen rule.

Like i get it TSM RIot and all...Always making rules to cater to Andy but seriously if Bjerg can have equity (RSU's) in a team now due to a rule change why does it matter if it happened prior and with your knowledge ?

General Esdeath 11/21/2019, 4:24:44 AM1 votes

Why exactly is it illegal again?