Riot Games has responded to multiple League of Legends reports regarding the financial stability of the LCS.
Reports made this weekend by content creator Cristopher “Montecristo” Mykles and Kevin Hitt of the Sports Business Journal claimed that the LCS is allowing teams to defer franchising fees until a later date to reflect the current climate of the league’s struggling economics. Riot Games has shut down these reports, calling them “inaccurate.”
In a statement provided to Dexerto, Riot Games said, “These reports are inaccurate. We maintain a collaborative relationship with our team partners and do not plan to discuss rumors.”
Although Riot claims that these reports are inaccurate, the logic behind a franchise fee deferral system would make some sense in the current climate. The LCS is hemorrhaging viewers split-over-split, and that viewership decline may be resulting in a steep revenue decrease for the league. According to the Sports Business Journal, any deferments made by teams would have interest attached to them. This process would also apply to teams competing in leagues around the world, including the LCK, LEC, and LPL.
That being said, any notions of a struggling LCS were shut down by Riot last weekend at the league’s Summer Finals, when American esports head Raul Fernandez told members of the press that the LCS was “in a very healthy position,” following the wrap-up of the 2023 domestic schedule.
Fernandez also mentioned that although viewership numbers aren’t where Riot “would like them to be,” the LCS is still getting its product out to fans, who are, in turn, engaging with the league.
There are additional rumors that the LCS could be making a move out of Los Angeles in the near future, according to Montecristo. The move is reportedly supported by many teams, as it would cut costs by moving the league out of one of America’s most notoriously expensive states to both work and live in. The LCS has been played in southern California since its inception in 2013.
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The LCS also appears dedicated to making deep-seated changes in the near future, starting with a shift in top-brass personnel. Riot recently hired a Brazilian LoL Esports veteran, Carlos Antunes, as its head of NA LoL esports. Antunes is a CBLOL veteran who constructed much of that league’s infrastructure to a point where the Brazilian circuit has even surpassed the LCS in relative domestic popularity over the course of the last few years. Riot hopes to bring strategies that worked in the CBLOL and LLA to North America through Antunes.
During the first half of the 2023 season, the CBLOL averaged 111,000 viewers per game, while the LCS pulled in just behind them at an average of about 109,000, according to esports data site Esports Charts. The CBLOL’s second split is still ongoing, with the finals set for Sept. 9.
Related: CBLoL clocks up another LoL viewership victory over LCS in Spring Split
Additionally, it will be one of Antunes’ first tasks as NA LoL esports heads to find a new commissioner for the LCS. The commissioner’s role has been vacant since April, with the most recent occupant, Jackie Felling, only staying at the post for a little over one season.
The LCS (and its reformed leadership room) will undoubtedly work tirelessly over the course of the next four months in order to get the league back on its feet—and climb back to a place where even the thought of franchise fee deferments hits the backburner.
If there’s one surefire way to give the North American LoL scene a boost, though, it would be through its players turning in a strong collective performance at this year’s World Championship. The region will send a total of three teams to the event (with the potential for a fourth), and if the LCS performs well internationally, it could result in more eyes on the domestic product come 2024.
The LCS only has room to go up, as it posted a collective 3-15 record at the Worlds group stage last season and has only sent one team to the quarterfinals across the last four seasons combined (Cloud9 in 2021). This year’s edition of LoL Worlds will begin on Oct. 10.
Published: Aug 27, 2023 12:44 pm