CLG bids farewell to League of Legends and Esports: NRG acquires their LCS spot from MSG

We might be starting to see the downsides of the franchising process unfold before our very eyes. One of the first organizations to get into competitive League of Legends is disbanding. Multiple news outlets have reported on the topic over the last few days and now we’ve gotten official confirmation from all parties involved. Counter Logic Gaming will cease to exist, with NRG purchasing the LCS slot and rights from the MSG-owned CLG brand. The organization is fielding rosters in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Apex Legends, and Fortnite competitions, but according to insider Travis Gafford, all staff will be laid off apart from the League of Legends department that’s moving under the NRG banner.

CLG History in the NA LCS

As crushing as it seems, esports is a business. CLG’s departure from the LCS might be shocking to many but the writing was on the wall for some time. Recently many conversations have reared their ugly head regarding how profitable ‌esports are, and the truth is, many of these teams operate at a deficit. Counter Logic Gaming was founded by George “HotshotGG” Georgallidis and Alexander “Vodoo” Beutel as a League of Legends team on April 16, 2010, and branched out into other games. The original roster that was composed of notable figures in the early days of the League of Legends community like Saintvicious and Chauster alongside HotshotGG, was one of the three North American organizations alongside Team SoloMid and Epik Gamer to attend the Season 1 World Championship.

Over the following years, the organization was a model for consistency and success, creating a massive fan base in the brimming League of Legends community by delivering positive results. Most of them came in 2015 and 2016, with the team winning two LCS titles and making two appearances at the League of Legends World Championship.

MSG acquires CLG before pulling out of Esports

This led to Madison Square Garden Sports acquiring a controlling stake in CLG on July 31, 2017, and that’s when most of their troubles began. Pouring a lot of corporate capital into esports without maintaining the structure is how teams are destined to fail. HotshotGG got his big payday, but the organization started deteriorating and slumped through the LCS competition until recently.

Now with corporate funding drying up during the impending recession due to the small return on investment, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which owns MSG and the NBA’s New York Knicks, is pulling out of the esports scene completely. Less than two months ago, employees from their Call of Duty League’s L.A. Guerrillas and Overwatch League’s L.A. Gladiators were let go, and now the rest of the dominos are falling. With the final chapter in Counter Logic’s book being written, one question remains. What is the future of the LCS?

NRG returns to the LCS by purchasing CLG slot

For the time being, NRG is set to return to the League of Legends Championship Series. Former NBA Sacramento Kings co-owner Andy Miller, who is now at the helm of NRG, is promising fans to preserve the CLG brand and history while ‌ trying to make NRG’s second stint in the LCS a bit more memorable. Back in November of 2015, NRG entered the LCS by purchasing Team Coast’s NA LCS slot for the 2016 Spring Season.

The team was at the top of the standings throughout the first 5 weeks before falling to the 5th seed by the end. In the midseason break, NRG traded out their entire roster, falling to the ninth seed before being relegated to the NACS by Echo Fox. The team disbanded shortly after and their League of Legends adventure came to a halt, until now. This time around NRG CEO Andy Miller is promising a more cohesive effort. 

And they have some pretty good things to work with. The team finished tied for third during the regular part of the 2023 LCS Spring Split before being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by the reigning LCS champions, Cloud9. This was a solid follow-up to their impressive 2022 LCS Summer Split, in which the team managed to collect double-digit wins after a long drought. With a solid mixture of young talent and hungry veterans, the hope is that NRG will make good use of the CLG structure and facilities and continue the upward trend. 

Header: NRG.GG