Mentioned in this article Teams: Cloud9 Games: League of Legends

The very public debate between Riot Games’ management and team owners in the pro League of Legends circuit just got a lot more serious. In a note on its Facebook page, HTC eSports—who sponsor and support many esports organizations—hinted that it has had difficulty finding sponsorship opportunities within the League Championship Series, and may even drop out of it altogether.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “With less avenues for advertisement in League of Legends, stemming from the restrictions on the teams and players, restrictions on the subreddit, and the lack of available marketing opportunities at competitions, it is becoming difficult to justify our investments into the scene.” [/perfectpullquote]

The initial debate started about patch timing, but has now transformed into criticism reaching into every corner of the Riot-managed LCS. The core of the arguments center around whether League of Legends is an esport that can earn investors revenue—and many team owners went public saying that it wasn’t.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Riot threatened to fine Team SoloMid if it didn’t take down a YouTube video promoting the HTC Vive.[/perfectpullquote]

Fingers were pointed by many at various sponsorship restrictions, such as Team SoloMid’s inability to let its sponsors attend live events and go backstage, or even wear sponsored equipment like headsets.

But perhaps the biggest accusation of overreach on Riot’s part came when Andy “Reginald” Dinh—who owns Team SoloMid—stated that Riot threatened to fine his team if it didn’t take down a YouTube video promoting the HTC Vive. Riot’s point of view is that League players were playing a game produced by a different company in the advertisement. As the players are paid a stipend by Riot, the developer has rules in place that prevent those players from advertising other games.

HTC, however, countered by stating that the video was instead a promotion of the HTC Vive, which would not violate Riot’s rules, and that the game selection was actually done by the players.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“The “TSM Plays Raw Data” video was originally part of a three-part series planned and shot with TSM to demonstrate the Vive to their fanbase. The first video, “TSM Plays Pictionary,” was released before the Raw Data production and featured the team playing Google’sTiltBrush. We also produced a video of Cloud9 CS:GO’s team playing “Paranormal Activity” to—once again—demonstrate the capabilities of the Vive.”[/perfectpullquote]

HTC continued on, showing other areas in which sponsoring content in League has become problematic. For example, the game’s subreddit moderators have rejected every “original video advertisement” made by the HTC eSports production team.

Riot, however, is the biggest reason for the difficulty.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“If Riot does not want us making videos that feature our sponsored players playing other games, we do not have many options for showcasing our products… Sponsors are now very limited in what we can do to market our brand and products while still supporting the League of Legends scene.”[/perfectpullquote]

For its part, Marc Merrill did promise yesterday in a statement that the company plans to expand revenue opportunities for its teams, including merchandising and revenue sharing. The LCS team owners, however, immediately countered with a detailed proposal of their own. Only one thing is certain—something’s gotta change.