In League of Legends the esports scene is huge. In addition to the professionals or casters, there are also journalists who conduct interviews with the players and accompany a tournament. One of the most well-known journalists in the LoL scene is now taking a break.
Which LoL expert is it? Even before there were official leagues like the LCK, LEC, or LCS, the American Travis Gafford started a podcast in 2011 that focused on the esports scene of LoL.
Travis became a major personality, especially in North America, and provided high-quality content in the form of interviews with players and general videos from major events like Worlds or MSI. Now the LoL expert is taking a break for the time being, as he explains in his farewell video on YouTube.
Why is he stepping back from the scene? Travis Gafford has been part of LoL for 14 years and has been working a lot, as he himself says. During a vacation, he receives messages about transfers between players or other news from the scene and has to immediately think about what content he can produce from it. He would like to have fewer commitments to the LoL scene and gain some distance.
Travis also talks about his other passions that he would like to pursue more, such as Magic: The Gathering or the LoL card game, Riftbound. One of the biggest points of his decision was the change in the esports scene of LoL, especially in North America.
In the video, you can see the trailer for Season 2 of 2025 in League of Legends:
Riot is hurting the scene itself
How has Riot hurt the esports scene of LoL? Travis Gafford discusses in his video some points that have not been good for the scene and the LCS (now LTA) of North America:
- The abolition of the Academy: In 2018, the NA LCS franchising was introduced (liquidpedia.net). Part of this was the Academy League, in which organizations like Cloud9 or Team Liquid had to have a team of up-and-coming talents. In 2023, this regulation was abolished, resulting in many teams being simply released and thus fewer new players being discovered or promoted in NA.
- The rebranding of the LCS brand: In 2025, Riot decided to merge the LCS, CBLOL, and LLA into one large American league. The League of Legends Championships of The Americas (LTA) became the official league and split into North and South America. This decision faced heavy criticism, and many wondered why the big and established name, LCS, was changed (zleague.gg).
- Website issues during MSI25: Travis Gafford mentioned in his video that during the game days of MSI25, no live matches were displayed, even though they were being played. This was also noted by some users on Reddit (reddit.com). Travis further stated that such a problem would have been resolved in a heartbeat back in 2014, which further emphasizes how little passion is put into the scene.
Fans are convinced that this is a disgrace for the esports scene
What are the fans saying about his break? Many are sad that Travis Gafford is leaving the scene for now. A stalwart like him, who has been a voice between the community and the esports scene for 14 years, will be missed in the LTA.
It is especially highlighted how disappointed fans are that the North American LoL scene is slowly going downhill, especially when a big personality like him is missing. Reddit user needphotoshophelp199 writes the following on the topic (reddit.com):
League in NA is at the end. If that’s not a sign, then I don’t know what is. Riot killed NA a long time ago, and we are just zombies feeding off a corpse. Good luck to the players and organizations still part of the ecosystem, and God help anyone trying to make content out of it, because they will really need divine help.
Under his YouTube video, user skylerroth1444 commented that he will miss Travis and that he was the one who breathed the last bit of life into the LTA:
Damn, we will really miss your content and your commitment to LoL.
You really breathed the last bit of life into what was left of LTA.
I’m glad that I will continue to follow you on your other channels even during your break.
While Riot makes some decisions that upset the community, they still provide quality content in their game. For MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes, LoL feels really good with the new champion: With the new ADC champion, LoL feels better than it has in a long time
