Back in 2016, eSports was considered an upcoming trend, expected to be as big as poker. However, by 2023, the “eSports winter” has arrived. Currently, the crisis is hitting the game League of Legends. In the US league LCS, the next former champion seems to be on the brink after TSM. Reports suggest that “Counter Logic Gaming” (CLG) will cease operations and sell the team.
This is the news: eSports journalist Travis Gafford reports (via youtube):
- The parent company of CLG, The Madison Square Garden Company, intends to abandon the entire eSports sector.
- It is said that all employees were informed that they would be laid off by Saturday, including President George “HotshotGG” Georgallidis, a legendary League of Legends player from the early days.
- The spot in the LCS will be sold to NRG “very soon” – It is currently unclear whether the entire team will be sold or just the spot.
What does it mean to sell your “spot”? The professional league LCS is a franchise league: You cannot be promoted or relegated. Teams must acquire a spot in the league from another team if they wish to enter the league. Such spots are traded for nine-figure sums.
What kind of team is this? CLG – Counter Logic Gaming – has been a mid-tier team in the LCS over the past few years. They are currently in 4th place.
The team had its prime in the summer of 2015 and spring of 2016, when they won 2 championships, both against TSM in the finals.
Players like HotshotGG, “Everyone but me is trash”-Doublelift and Pobelter are associated with this time.
TSM and CLG are reportedly both looking to sell their spot
This news is currently significant: The fact that CLG is allegedly looking to sell its spot is particularly explosive as it was only recently revealed that the 7-time US champion TSM also appears to be selling its spot.
This would mean that 2 of the biggest teams in the history of LoL in the USA would be gone.
“The bubble bursts”
How is this being discussed? In other games, Reddit users would critically question such “rumors”. However, in LoL, the “someone has spilled the beans” culture is so dominant and eSports journalists are so established that these insider reports practically always turn out to be true. Hence, the report is now perceived and discussed as fact, just like the previous one from TSM.
US fans on reddit are currently taking the news of CLG’s end with dark humor. They haven’t even digested the news about TSM yet, and now the next one comes.
The general trend is that they have felt good for a long time to hear that the “old enemy” TSM is imploding – now CLG is going the same way:
- “United in rivalry with TSM”
- “Absolutely crazy. The two original giants, TSM and CLG, are the first to go. Crazy times we live in.”
- “The bubble bursts.”
Clubs in Germany are also withdrawing from LoL
Is there an eSports crisis with LoL in Germany as well? Yes, several football clubs have withdrawn from League of Legends in recent years: such as Schalke and Hertha BSC. They started with a lot of enthusiasm a few years ago.
Even here, a company has already stated that its LoL team has turned out to be a “black hole” that sucks in money.
However, there is a successful project called “Eintracht Spandau” that seems to be working well through the influencer “HandOfBlood”:
E-Sport: Winter is coming
What is the general situation? Currently, people are talking about the “eSports winter”: Many teams and organizations that have built an existence in eSports over the last 10 years are scaling down or completely closing operations. Several factors are contributing to this.
Two factors currently affect many companies, not just in eSports:
- The coronavirus pandemic has depleted reserves as live matches were canceled.
- Advertising revenues seem to be generally scarce due to a deterioration in the economic climate. In Germany, companies such as Rocket Beans TV are feeling this.
However, there are also specific issues relating to eSports. The general enthusiasm of investors for eSports has noticeably decreased in recent years because prestige projects have not achieved sustainable success:
- The massive project
- The massive project
