Splyce and ExceL Esports Becoming Permanent Partners in LEC
Some really big news today regarding League of Legends European Championship (LEC) and its permanent partners coming into 2019. Both Movistar Riders and NORTH, two originally accepted teams, will no longer be part of the franchised league. The former being one of the strongest, most recognizable esport clubs in Spain whereas the latter has a sizeable following thanks to their Danish roots. North, in particular, has been an affiliate of F.C. Copenhagen football and Nordisk Film since it’s founding in early 2017.
Both teams have ample financial backing, and they were already accepted into the franchised league, so this might be a dispute with Riot EU or a disagreement of how money will be handed out. Without any concrete reasoning, it’s impossible to know for sure.
As a result, Splyce and exceL Esports will be joining LEC as replacements. It’s important to remember that both teams had sent applications before but were rejected for reasons unknown.
The vetting process was a multi-layered procedure that took several months from start to finish. Splyce finds themselves in a pretty vulnerable position. They’ve already allowed all their players and staff to explore their options coming into 2019, so they’ll have to work extra hard to retain their players. Fortunately, the organization always had a relatively successful rosters in the EU LCS, and even though they almost completely restructured their line-up coming into 2018, they were still able to play at a very high level throughout the regular season.
ExceL Esports, on the other hand, have only been competing in lower-tier amateur tournaments as well as the ESL Premiership.
Overall, the addition of Splyce and exceL Esports means there will be three North American-based esport organizations in the franchised EU LCS, which has left many fans unhappy.
I think it’s a shame that staple EU organizations like Movistar (and many more) didn’t get in, especially since they already have huge followings.
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