Support NeoGAF

[Pattycakes]

I didn't see a thread for this, but this has been trending online the past few days. For those who do not follow the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NALCS), they are moving to a franchising system next season similar to that of the NBA, MLB, and NFL. It requires at least a $5 million dollar down payment with an additional $5 million to paid over the season in addition to going through a screening by Riot Games. (You can read about the changes here. Notably, the organizations that have been approved so far have major financial ties to already pre-existing professional sports organizations.

Interestingly, some of these teams have never played in the NALCS nor do they even have teams, but they come from professional sports organizations and others have acquired backing or been acquired by major sports organizations. Of the 10 teams "confirmed" so far, these are the teams with explicit professional sports ties:

• The Cleveland Cavilers (new team)
• Golden State Warriors (new team)
• Houston Rockets (new team)
• New York Yankees (Through Echo Fox)
• Madison Square Garden Company (Through CLG) which owns the New York Rangers and New York Knicks
• Bucks Co-Owner (through FlyQuest)
• Golden State Warriors Co-Owner and Washington Wizards Co-Owner (Through Team Liquid)

The only ones without such investments AFAIK that have been confirmed are:

• Optic
• TSM
• C9

Do you think these investments means that esports (in particular League of Legends) is going to increase in popularity and revenue? These organizations investing this capital are expecting a return on investment. How big is that ROI going to be, if at all? What's your take on all of this? Are esports becoming major?

Send me to the NBALCS if old

 

[Evolution of Metal]

Do you think these investments means that esports (in particular League of Legends) is going to increase in popularity and revenue? These organizations investing this capital are expecting a return on investment. How big is that ROI going to be, if at all? What's your take on all of this? Are esports becoming major?

Big money orgs aren't bringing new demographics to the scene (NRG, Echo Fox, TL), big football orgs have failed in EU (Paris SG, Schalke 04). Eleague isn't bringing any new demographic to the scene for CSGO, ratings aren't great. I haven't seen a single non-esports org successfully establish itself in any game (CSGO, Dota, LoL).

LCS is in a decline compared to S4-S5, I don't see how brands or money can fix it, especially for a MOBA where you have to play the game many times to understand what you are looking at. You will have the same C9/TSM dominance over the filler squads made from NA "talent" and random Koreans. The 2 import rule is going to prevent any new org from building a competitive lineup.

Riot is making the LCS investment as safe as possible, so the big orgs can throw a bone in the off chance the Internet isn't overhyping the revenue potential.

 

[Usobuko]

What I'm most impressed with LoL eSport is the breadth and depth it penetrated worldwide.

Especially in Latin America and Eurasia.

 

[Syf]

I say sky's the limit for esports. Kids grow up with video games and streaming more and more, the potential audience is massive and growing. I'm not sure we're quite ready for stuff like the new LCS and OWL, could see them struggling especially OWL, but it's a future that I don't think is terribly far off.

 

[SkateorDi3]

I just wish more people would watch rocket league. It's the only esport that is rometely close to real broadcast sports. And imo it's the only one worth watching if you aren't a player. It's super easy to understand, hit ball with car into net. I don't think esports is going to get really big for another decade.

 

[Biscotti]

I just wish more people would watch rocket league. It's the only esport that is rometely close to real broadcast sports. And imo it's the only one worth watching if you aren't a player. It's super easy to understand, hit ball with car into net. I don't think esports is going to get really big for another decade.

Thats kinda the issue, Its literally just hit ball into net. People that do not play RL have no idea how much skill it takes to do aerial shots etc so when it happens they don't care. Any real physical sport people have an idea of how skilled a player is by watching them perform.

 

[jwhit28]

It's messed up how they treated some existing NALCS teams. Immortals, Team Envy, Phoenix1 and Team Dignitas are all kicked out. Immortals were performing well and were most likely turned down because they are also the owners of the Los Angeles Overwatch team. LoL is based in LA and allegedly didn't want a well performing Immortals team bringing attention to another esport.

 

[Lemstar]

1. the ballooning of professional sports team valuation in the past few years makes buying into a gaming franchise slot look attractive

2. the demographics of esports viewers are probably desirable targets for advertisers


I don't think investors are expecting to see returns at all, given that esports ventures tend to be very expensive marketing campaigns. I'm not too sure about the other major leagues, but some NBA teams aren't actually profitable; it's just that teams increasing in value by hundreds of millions over the course of a decade makes up for a lot of that, and with ongoing trends regarding media consumption, it's not implausible to imagine the same happening for a League slot.

I definitely don't think that there's going to be some kind of push in marketing these games to the teams' existing audiences, especially since the sports franchises aren't allowed to co-brand their League/OW teams.

 

[larrydavid74]

For those that haven't heard the news. LoL EU LCS is rebranding as the League of Legends European Championship. You can find all the info you need here: LoL LEC | League of Legends News. What are your thoughts on the big changes?