LCS Player Association Votes to Cancel Spring Split
While the LCS has transitioned from its LAN format to online, it appears not everyone wanted to continue with the Spring Split. According to a video by journalist Travis Gafford, the LCS Player Association held a vote last week to determine if players wanted to continue on with the 2020 Spring Split. In a shocking result, less than 66% wanted to cancel the Spring Split.
Every Vote Counts
The exact voting of each player is currently unknown. Riot Games has decided to continue with the Spring Split despite the vote by LCS Player Association. The reason players voted for its end has been revealed and caused quite the stir amongst fans and analysts.
According to Gafford, the reason is a concern for safety and a desire by several international players to return home amidst the coronavirus outbreak that has seen multiple countries across the globe close their borders and call citizens abroad to return home. Several players wanted to cancel the Split because they felt it wasn’t as important as Summer Split.
This last reasoning has sparked outrage across the competitive League community. Many have argued this lack of motivation is why North American teams have struggled on the international level year after year. Others have claimed players should always be giving it their all for how much they’re getting paid.
Money vs. Performance
C9 Content Producer MonteCristo, in particular, had choice words for pros. The former caster/analyst commented on how much complaining they do versus how much they get paid.
“While there are definitely arguments players could make for canceling the LCS Spring Split, the attitude of not playing because it “doesn’t matter” is one of the reasons NA LoL continues to be s***,” he commented on his Twitter account. “Owners should make at least 50% of LCS player salaries performance-based. I am so incredibly sick of NA players constantly talking in public about their motivation and then doing this behind the scenes. It’s time for the owners to stop giving LCS players massive paychecks to guys who don’t even want to earn their money.”
Originally Monte was to discuss the matter in more detail on Cloud9’s Summoner Insight series on Twitch, but issues with the internet in the Los Angeles area have forced him to record it and upload the rant later. While the rant is sure to come off as harsh, his reasoning is understandable given how much players are making in the LCS verse their performance. Many players reportedly make several hundred thousand dollars a year or more. For them to not want to put in the effort to play when players from other regions have been itching to get back to competitively playing is pretty inexcusable for fans who’ve longed for NA to bring home a World title.
The LCS Player Association has yet to make an official comment on the matter. We’ll keep you updated as the situation develops and/or pros come forward to speak out on the outcome of the vote.
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