TSM and Immortals release their NACL rosters amid NACL LoL, Riot Games and LCS Players Association controversy

At the end of the day, esports is a business. Back when Riot Games was implementing the franchising process in their LoL Esports ecosystem, teams were promised major benefits. A more stable environment to generate revenue, exponential growth that makes corporate capital drool, and more opportunities for young players.  A few years later, with the investments and structure mismanaged to a fault, Riot Games is turning its back on League of Legends Esports in North America. CLG is gone, band aid fixes in the form of format and rule changes are backfiring on viewership and now the NACL talent development pipeline is on the chopping block. 

All 10 LCS teams vote against making NACL mandatory in 2024

The 2023 LCS Spring Split ended with C9 LoL claiming the title. But the mini offseason heading into LoL MSI 2023 and the  2023 LCS Summer Split, started much earlier for many LCS teams. During this downtime, the LCS teams have reached out to Riot Games, for some collective bargaining as it pertains to LoL Esports. Apart from the proposed import rule changes, teams have also been trying to cut expenses. The economic downturn has shaken esports to its core, with the TSM FTX situation being a prime example. But forget all of the terrible investments into ultra-expensive facilities and imported rosters funded by crypto money. In 2023, according to the LCS teams, the LoL Esports ecosystem is bleeding money due to its development system.

The NACL (North America Challengers League) is the rebranded version of the Academy system. It’s used by every LCS team, because it was mandatory up until now, to curate and develop new LCS prospects. It represents the highest level of competition in the LCS LoL Esports universe where minors can play League of Legends competitively. There are multiple layers, divisions, and teams below it, enabling young players to be promoted through the ranks if they are deemed worthy. Something similar to AAU basketball, college basketball, and the NBA G League being combined. But now LCS teams claim this system is making them financially unstable.

LCS LoL addresses the NACL and LCS PA situation

The NA LCS came out a few days after the initial report to reinstate their commitment to the NACL. They did admit they agreed to remove the rule that mandates LCS teams to have a team in the NACL system. But to affirm their dedication to developing League of Legends talent in the NA LCS, they are adding a promotion/ relegation system to the NACL. They claimed they were going to continue to support the NACL financially and were adding mechanisms to better monetize the product. They plan on using the Chicago server more often to increase competitive integrity and improve cross-regional competition by including South America in their system.

While this is all great on paper, the LCS Players Association is not having it. They received similar affirmation a few years ago and for the last 2-3 years, the players have been funding the LCS PA, not Riot Games. This was necessary to preserve player rights and more importantly, overlook the grievance process and labor relations in situations like this one. So the LCS Players Association called out Riot Games, LoL Esports and the entire NA LCS LoL for misinforming the public.

LCS Players Association statement about NACL and the response Riot Games gave

The LCS PA is calling out LoL Esports for lying to them and the public. They claim that just a week ago, Riot Games assured them there would be no changes to the NACL system. With the 2023 NACL Summer Split kicking off in less than a week, changes like this have long-lasting impact. They pleaded with Riot Games to not sabotage the structure that enabled 50% of current LCS pros to come up through the NACL/Academy system. Developing homegrown talent is always cheaper than importing while generating buzz within the community about the region’s next superstars. Players like Blaber LoL wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the NACL. 

The LCS PA also scoffed at the claim that the NACL is making LCS LoL teams unprofitable, when the average annual salary cost of an entire NACL roster represents less than 17% of an average LCS organization’s League-based salary costs in a year. Teams continue throwing money into causes that aid the LCS a lot less than the NACL, and yet, Riot Games and LoL Esports are supporting them in cutting the lifeline on the NACL. While Europe continues to have a thriving ERL LoL system and the LCK LoL and LPL LoL maintain robust Challenger rosters and leagues, North America now has a developmental product with no viewership, no institutional support, no paying jobs, and no future.

The LCSPA plan to help Riot Games and LoL Esports save the NACL

The LCS Players Association mentioned in their statement that a few months ago they proposed a plan to Riot Games that would make the NACL system a lot more financially viable.

This would include:

• Allow teams to pay NACL players based on local wage laws instead of California labor minimums
•  Allow teams to partner with affiliate organizations to operate their NACL rosters and share costs
• Introduce a robust in-game item program for LCS teams that mirrors their generous revenue sharing program in Valorant
•  Introduce meaningful incentives like promotion/relegation and revenue sharing for outside organizations to invest in NACL rosters

Not only would these measures reduce the cost of maintaining the NACL by approximately 50%, but they would also fuel competition and development on all fronts. 

TSM and Immortals release their NACL Rosters, Coaching Staff, Organization

And just like that, the first domino to fall was TSM. Immortals followed suit a few days later. Support Fleshy LoL was demoted from the Immortals LCS roster to the NACL roster after Treatz got signed. But instead of continuing to develop after his rookie split in the LCS, he is now a free agent. This is a player that moved from Turkey to the USA to pursue his dream, only to have it backfire 4 months later.

100 Thieves rookie top lane Tenacity LoL will be streaming full-time

The outlook isn’t too shiny for domestic talent as well. 100 Thieves are going back to Ssumday LoL in the top lane, after one split with Tenacity LoL in the lineup. Tenacity has been one of the most hyped NA LCS prospects alongside Kenvi LoL and Busio LoL for a few years now. They won multiple titles on 100 Thieves Next and Academy, the development sister teams for the main LCS 100 Thieves roster. 

And while most of these are currently starters on LCS teams, Tenacity has decided to give up on his dream. He recently announced he was moving away from competitive play after just one split to focus on content creation. He mentioned that he’s been well aware of the financial instability of the LCS system for a while now. Seeing the writing on the wall, he urged LCS prospects to pursue their dreams in the European ERL system.