100 Thieves make messy exit from League of Legends & leave LTA scrambling

100 Thieves are planning to exit the League of Legends pro scene due to a lack of funding to support the team, but Riot didn’t want to get rid of them just yet. Despite 100T having already sold their franchise slot, they’ll be sticking around for one more year in the LTA format in a provisional slot.

2024 was an odd year for 100T. On one hand, they bested Cloud9 in an unexpected victory, making it to Worlds 2024 despite an overall lackluster season. Then they got absolutely decimated once they got to the event, losing to minor region teams and showing that the LCS was a bit of a two-team region for the year.

Despite this, the team re-signed River and seemed to have doubled down on keeping and developing the talent they have to make a better run in 2025. However, not all is well in the 100 Thieves camp.

Unfortunately for fans of the team, they’ve already sold their franchise slot back to Riot going into the LTA merger. They’re guaranteed to be out of the league next year. But, Riot have chosen to let 100 Thieves stick around for one more year despite having already sold their slot.

According to a press release from Riot, 100T’s choice was based on “business reasons” and not a lack of desire to stay in the league. Considering Nadeshot took a pay cut to secure the CDL team he wanted, this should come as no surprise.

Additionally, Riot doesn’t really know what they’re going to do with the slot once 100T makes their exit at the end of 2025. Disguised already have a guest slot filled that they’ll be able to defend at the end of the year, but it’s not clear whether or not the second slot will remain a guest slot once 100 Thieves are gone.

It could be a good move for the league to keep it a guest slot considering interest from creators in creating tier 2 teams, and having that extra spot freed up could allow for more creator teams to find a path in.

However, there’s a chance Riot decides to sell the slot to a team for franchising as well, though it’s not clear how valuable that slot would be considering how 100T have made their exit.