North American organisation Rogue, which is owned by ReKTGlobal, has officially confirmed its acceptance into the newly-franchised European League of Legends Championship Series (EU LCS).

Rogue will be one of 10 franchise partners – five of which are new to the competition – that will compete in the premier Europe competition for the foreseeable future.

Rogue was first reported to be have had its application accepted by Riot Games on November 3rd. The report stated that North, SK Gaming, and Movistar Riders were also in the same stage of the process but official entries were being held off due to “setbacks” in negotiations. Since then, it has been reported that North and Movistar Riders are out of the running in favour of Splyce and exceL Esports.

Dave Bialek, CEO and Co-founder of ReKTGlobal discussed the move: “We’re very excited to be a part of the LEC – formerly EU LCS – as it’s been a vision quest for Amish, ReKTGlobal’s Co-Founder, and me since we started the company. Our goal is to make Rogue one of the top LEC teams in 2019 and build an avid fanbase utilizing our celebrity influencers.”

Rogue was founded by Derek Nelson and Frank Villarreal in May 2016, and was acquired by its parent company ReKTGlobal in December 2017. The organisation currently fields teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, and FIFA.

Amish Shah, Founder of ReKTGlobal commented: “League of Legends is massive – it’s one of the biggest games in the world with more than 5 billion hours watched during the 2018 World Championship. We can’t wait to be one of the founding teams for the European region and to hit the ground running – and winning. Between the expertise and experience of our new leadership team in the LEC, we’re confident in the success that Rogue is capable of in its inaugural 2019 season.”

On May 1st, it was announced that members and management of band Imagine Dragons had invested in ReKTGlobal. Daniel Platzman and Wayne Sermon secured a stake in the company and also became co-owners in Rogue.

Esports Insider says: Clearly ReKTGlobal is putting its investment to good use, becoming a partner of one of the biggest leagues in esports. The EU LCS is yet to utilise a franchise system so performance in terms of viewership and engagement is yet to be discovered, but it’s no surprise to see the likes of ReKTGlobal taking a chance on it.