On May 22, Jeremy Wang, better known as Disguised Toast, made a simple tweet. He asked his over 1.6 million Twitter followers who the best available North American League of Legends player was.
And everyone lost their minds
A few weeks prior, Riot Games delivered the news that franchise partners no longer were required to field a team to compete in the North American Challengers League (NACL). A decision meant to alleviate some of the financial burdens for organizations instead became a rallying cry for players and the community. Why won’t anyone care about NA League of Legends?
Fans wanted their teams to support the growth and invest in amateur talent within the region. With the continued success of the European Regional Leagues with the EU Masters format, North America was looking to replicate that magic. Albeit, it has been a challenge. There are less spots and less geographical pride. LCS organizations’ intentions with the secondary league has been questionable at best. And amateur organizations struggle to find their footing with the competitive disadvantage of going up against partnered organizations with better name value and better financial situations.
People are hoping that streamers may mix things up for the better. Following his success in standing up a VALORANT roster and maybe with the inspired confidence of said venture, League of Legends is a bigger ask but also one that is not necessarily out of reach for Wang. And it may no longer be out of the reach for other interested creators.
Quietly lost in the fold of the controversy is the improvements Riot introduced to the NACL – utilizing the Chicago server rather than forcing players to Los Angeles, immediately adding Twitch subscriptions and team partner broadcast integrations to improve org visibility and revenue streams. And we’re likely to see co-streaming become a part of the league, once again a good sign for a league compounded with the viewership growth in recent years. These are great changes for creators to take advantage of this as “content” and the lack of a massive infrastructure immediately being needed.
It should not be ignored that most of the changes are better for organizations rather than for talent or staff. Wang’s entrance was at the loss of a homegrown amateur team in Team Tony Top – who have gone on record that it was not realistic to compete without a partner organization to support. It should – not could — be argued this was relatively short-sighted for the players albeit understandable given real life responsibilities and what may be best for their pursuit of a professional player career. It also is giving the “anti-organization” organizations an opportunity to take advantage of a misconception.
Disguised gives off the appearance of old esports in many ways – ‘casually serious.’ Their logo is a the letters “DSG” drawn in paint with a single color background. It doesn’t get better than that. But the organization has also looked to bring in talent – such as signing one of the more well-respected free agents in VALORANT in Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker out of nowhere. While we do not know the team Wang has selected, there is the idea that they will be competitive.
The new NACL format adds some general flexibility that would allow for new organizations or small organizations to take the risk. The reward of a potential $30,000 prize if finishing first in the NACL Summer Playoffs is nice. But the exposure and potential revenue share – if executed correctly – is a pretty solid business case to get behind. Wang’s call to action of other content creators (and former President Barack Obama) in a tweet a few days later makes sense. The pool is fine, and it may be more fun with more personality and publicity. It could be a party.
But there is the added aspect that streamers will have to care and invest.
Esports organizations mature. Organizations like Disguised previously existed and then had to adjust to the reality of the situation: they were responsible for people’s livelihood. Suddenly, more was needed. The “operating out of your basement” nature or with little oversight often comes unrealistic with success. One month, you are sending over a paycheck from your personal bank account. The next, you’re implementing an ERP.
The wild, wild west of old esports was a great time from an entertainment perspective yet terrible from a livelihood and business perspective – with people many people getting hurt in the process. And while the idea that your favorite content creator wouldn’t let such things happen, we recently just witnessed an entrance go terribly with Félix Lengyel’s attempted entry into competitive VALORANT.
And all of this is just to operate. Esports has struggled to turn into a profitable venture for most as people continue to learn about the space and continue to find their footing. While some have developed profitable ventures – such as TSM’s website ownership gold mine – other have gone through the wringer with multiple buyouts. An organization can be terrible yet it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a need for organizations, companies in esports. They offer a valuable infrastructure.
When permanent partnerships was originally announced for the North America and European region, it is why professional sports organizations being partners made more sense. These were people who understood this reality – often finding their fortune prior to owning a sports team. That this would be a timely process. The execution went poorly but that philosophy still rings true.
Can content creators realistically live with a potential large money drain? We don’t necessarily know that just yet. And some don’t want to find out.
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There’s a cautious optimism with content creators entering the esports space. And the preemptive term of “cautious” should not be dropped. Creators will have to balance the responsibility of owner and a creative. It is not an impossible balance but one that can be difficult. And some acknowledge that — like 100 Thieves’ balance of Matthew Haag and John Robinson. However, the organization will constantly be connected to the creator and every single performance will have their name associated with it. That’s a lot of stress.
If it becomes their respective playgrounds, there is the reality that people could fall of the monkey bars. That things could go wrong. There needs to be that right balance of ‘casually serious’ that allows for people to grow and be able to call esports a livelihood for the long-term but also be “cool.” It can’t just be your content for a month.
And this is why Wang’s recent ventures will be interesting to follow over time. He’s now participating in two of the biggest esports in the world – doing so in less than a year’s time. While not at the “majors” level, he still has a major responsibility on his hands. It is too early to call it a success and if struggles appear, it will be too early to call it a failure.
Yet if creators are to do what they do best being following trends, having an esports organization may not be the trend for them. More importantly, it shouldn’t necessarily be the trend the community is actively pushing for.