Splyce Rebrands as MAD Lions, Will Continue to Compete in LEC
This isn’t the first rebrand for Splyce, but this is a much cooler name, to be honest. Formerly Follow eSports, Splyce is reborn again, now as MAD Lions! They will roar across a variety of games, such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, SMITE, and Starcraft II.
Perhaps most importantly, the Hispanic team is going to continue their efforts in the LEC in 2020. It’s a pretty sound rebrand if you ask me. Splyce was a cool name but didn’t likely connect with anything to the average fan.
Roar, MAD Lions!
OverActive Media, owners of Splyce (now MAD Lions), are making a serious push here. The strategy is to promote Hispanic culture not just on the main stage of the LEC, but globally. The new look and name offers a voice for Hispanic players all over the world.
OverActive Media also announced they are looking to bring the esports scene of Spain to life with native language content and more. They will be active on social media and other outlets to be a positive force of esports for the Spain scene and beyond.
Chris Overholt, president and CEO of OverActive Media, spoke about this recently:
“This is an exciting day for our organization, as we take another substantial step forward in growing OverActive Media globally. We want to thank our Splyce fans and invite them to join all of us as we head into an exciting new era in the LEC.”
Though they are still in the process of rebuilding the team, there’s still plenty of time. Their inaugural season isn’t until February after all. We did hear that James “Mac” MacCormack (Assistant Coach) will be taking over as the franchise’s head coach. So that’s great news!
Global Audiences
Though it seems to be their aim is on Spain’s esports, this move could have far-reaching consequences. Positive consequences, mind! Normalizing esports fandom and growth for the Hispanic community can only be a positive thing.
OverActive’s acquirement of the MAD Lions isn’t new itself, but initially, MAD Lions and Splyce were separate teams. Now with the rebrand, the Splyce Vipers are the MAD Lions. What I wonder if this will take place over all OverActive’s “Splyce” teams. We do have a potential team though for their League of Legends team. This is, of course, pending Riot’s approval.
The MAD Lions posted the team on Twitter back on November 29, of course, pending approval. I’m looking forward to it, as I’ve always been a pretty big fan of Splyce’s SMITE team. They are taking over the Splyce LEC spot, but not anything else.
Our full #LEC Roster for 2020 – Pending Riot Approval
— MAD Lions (@MADLions_LoLEN) November 29, 2019
Top – @OromeLoL
Jungle – @shadowlol01
Mid – @Humanoiidd51
ADC – @Carzzylol
Support – @Gistick2 #goMADhttps://t.co/L9RuGyDmNW pic.twitter.com/OvMaqSPqKt
Final Thoughts
OverActive Media also owns the Toronto Defiant, as an interesting point. Since we’ve only seen the “Splyce” rebrand, I cannot imagine it will affect non-Splyce OverActive teams. Only time will tell! I do like the MAD Lions look, though.
I can’t help but wonder what prompted the change. Back in May, the Mad Lions and Splyce teams combined in some manner for the LEC academy team. They were under the MAD Lions banner, but the official Splyce rebrand wasn’t until very recently. It’s a confusing mess, but I’m glad it’s all straightened out now.
I’m looking forward to hearing the MAD Lions roar in 2020!
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