Today, eight of the most important esports teams in Brazil announced the creation of a Brazilian esports clubs association. ABCDE (Associação Brasileira de Clubes de eSports) includes every team that participated in the last season of CBLoL—the Brazilian equivalent of the LCS—INTZ, CNB, Keyd Stars, PaiN Gaming, KaBuM, Operation Kino, Red Canids, and Big Gods.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“We aim to promote the esports ecosystem, revitalize and consolidate the union between the clubs, always encouraging fair play and transparency among all involved,” states the group’s Facebook page.[/perfectpullquote]

The main objective presented by the association, beyond the proposition to push professionalism, is to have a stronger voice in front of tournament organizers, sponsors and TV networks.

According to ABCDE’s president, INTZ’s Lucas Simões de Almeida, the association will push forward a politic of tournament participation, with a list of minimum requirements that each tournament must adhere to. It will also represent a grouped voice for “sponsors to be able to sponsor all our teams at once,” he explained. Finally, the group will negotiate together with TV networks and broadcasting services over broadcast rights.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Being part of the association does have some significant requirements.[/perfectpullquote]

The association aims to gather more teams in the future, which will be divided under three categories: founders, “ordinários,” and aspiring. Each groups will have different rights and will have financial participation corresponding to their rank. During general assemblies, founders’ votes will be counting for three, against 1 for “ordinários.” After a year, “ordinários” can become founders with a majority vote by the founders. And aspiring members can rank up if they get the majority in a general assembly vote.

Being part of the association, however, does have some significant requirements. Among them, keeping “all your athletes duly registered with the association, informing it about terminations and new contracting.” It also requires “not tarnishing the image of any Member or body of the Association because of any differences and disputes.” Taken as a whole, this creates a much more standardized esports scene for Brazil—and instantly makes it one of the most professional in the world.

According to the statuses, most decisions will require a majority of the general assembly. It will be interesting to see the development of the association and if the members manage to stick together, even when their objectives will differ.

The recent situation between LCS team owners and Riot Games certainly showed that there is a need for teams to band together. ABCDE might not represent very well the rights of the players, but it does seem to have the full support of team owners, unlike other advocacy groups like WESA.