LOL: Riot can force Astralis to sell his place in Lec for bad results?

Undoubtedly, the European League of Legends has grown since the arrival of LEC and the franchise format. Pre 2019 audiences are there to be consulted, but also how well the change in the approach to the same competition came to this ecosystem. Because yes, thanks to franchises and the elimination of decline, it has been possible to grow at an economic and professionalism level.

• The insistent ERL thrust and the Astralis case
• A year of forced sale?
• New Orleans and La League buying your own square
• The recent Kings case

The problem is that not all have taken advantage of that opportunity in the same way. While teams like rogue or mad lions have been at the competitive head of the region after leaving an expansion of squares and a rebranding, respectively, other clubs wander without too many results inside and outside the Summoner's Rift.

Especially relevant are the cases of Excel , which needed 7 seasons to enter between the first 6 and play playoffs, and of astralis , previously known as origin . Today we are going to answer a question that are becoming many fans of teams from the European regional leagues: Is it possible that Riot forces to sell a Plaza in Lec?

The insistent ERL thrust and the Astralis case

The Excel case is quite extreme, because they have not stopped making betting during all these years: trying to develop talent, sign veterans or even bring a star as mikyx . You can not say that your policy does not seek to improve, although you do not always agree with your criteria. With Astralis we have another situation, one in which they have been giving bandagos despite carrying 2 years from the worst teams of the competition.

After the output of Guilhoto, Alphari, Xerxe, UpSet and a Nukeduck in full form In summer of 2020, the club has not been signing players at the highest level. Although we can think that Zanzarah is a neat jungle and with a lot of charisma, or that Kobbe had a great level during several seasons, the reality is that the team does not convince. And the last news we have is that it will supply to perhaps the best player of this season with a veteran like vicizsacsi .

And another issue is the war of impacts. To learn, being able to reach more and more people are vital when developing their sponsorships, the main benefit entry door. It is great that ERL grow and have cases such as Spanish superliga and French LFL, with clubs like KOI and KCORP above 475,000 and 300,000 followers only on Twitter.

For putting this in context, the account for League of Legends of Astralis, who is responsible for talking about the ECS team almost exclusively, is in some miserable 16,000 followers. Almost identical figure to that of bisons, a team created a few months ago , which militates in an ERL, and that does not have a historic club in the CSGO on its back.

A year of forced sale?

Those who remember the moment of creation of the League of Legends franchised leagues in the West, the North American LCS and the subsequent Lec European, we know that One of the objectives was competitiveness . Ideally, everyone has the same options to win, but the reality is that it is not always possible that. Without the possibility of descending, there is a possibility that some teams are lost from the competition.

In American sport there is a correction mechanism called Draft, by which the worst teams in a season are more likely to choose new talents from universities. This does not exist in the European lol, where the great talents file for Top teams, as was the case of Adam by FNATIC or flakked by G2. Therefore, the door is opened that certain organizations are always down on the table, and its owner chooses not to invest to reverse the situation.

Therefore and although we have not been able to find more than references to it, there is a spring by which Riot Games, as responsible for the competition, could change this. The norm would be something like that if you end up 9º-10 ° by at least 5 of 8 Splits (ie 4 Natural Years), it is considered suitable for the descent . It is not clear that this means, but it could well be forcing a sale from the square.

If we apply this to astralis, the truth is that the team has been in that place of classification only on 3 occasions of the last 7 seasons of LEC. It would be necessary for Astralis to stay again in the tail of the league this summer and next spring to activate this clause... as long as it continues active in the internal rules of the competition.

New Orleans and La League buying your own square

In principle, this mechanism also exists in other franchisees, with the exception that there are different roads such as the draft, the salary limit and the salary floor, which seek to avoid zombie equipment by the track. But that does not mean that forced sales of certain teams at NBA or NFL have not been carried out.

In 2010, the purchase of New Orleans Hornets was confirmed by a young Chris Paul by the NBA itself. This acquisition was performed after not prosperating the sale of the franchise agreed at that time, and the economic impossibility by its owner George Shinn to continue managing the club. It was the League itself that bought the team to find a new buyer.

There are also cases in which it is the League itself that, or makes the owner of a team that is time to move away and sell, or directly forces him. In 2014 the Hawks of Atlanta were sold after discovering racist emails by the then owner Bruce Levenson , while the NFL was made Jerry Richardson Send the carolina panthers four years ago after an investigation on sexism and racism at the club.

The recent Kings case

The truth is that at no time have we have seen that it has been the sporting performance that ends with a club sale. And that we are just seeing the worst team in the history of the NBA. We do not refer to the least games wins, but the one who leads the most years without playoffs. The Sacramento Kings beat last night the record of the most seasons without postseason playing, with 16 years .

If in a hypercompetitive league as the NBA it is possible to be 16 years without playing playoffs, it seems reasonable to think that Riot Games is not nervous for making Astralis leave Lec. The rumors talk about that I would be thinking about an expansion of squares in the competition for 2023 , and that would be the most feasible path for fresh blood to the competition.

Foto de lol esports.