Riot shuts down all five LCSPA demands in response to player walkout

Riot has shut down every single one of the LCS Players Association’s demands, which were made when the association voted for a walkout.

On May 12, Riot announced it would be dropping requirements for LCS teams to field academy rosters starting in the Summer Split. This led to seven of the ten LCS orgs dropping their NACL rosters.  

The decision was made without much input from the players as it left many NACL careers in jeopardy. This eventually led to the LCSPA on May 29 agreeing to walk out of the upcoming Summer Split in protest of these changes, with five demands asked of Riot. 

Riot shuts down all five of LCSPA’s demands

Throughout the entire ordeal, Riot had stayed radio silent on the matter. However, it finally responded on May 30, postponing the Season with threats to cancel the split, and shutting down every single demand from the LCSPA. 

An Update on the 2023 LCS Summer Split

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The LCSPA’s five demands are: 

• Institute ‘Valorant style’ promotion and relegation between the LCS and NACL.
• Allow LCS orgs to partner with affiliates for cost-sharing.
• Riot commits to a revenue pool for player salaries of $300,000 per NACL team per year.
• Institute a 3/5 roster continuity rule to provide players on released NACL rosters first priority in maintaining their slots in the upcoming NACL season if a majority continue to compete together.
• Riot guarantees LCS minimum contracts for the following year for the five players who win the LCS summer finals each year.

And Riot has completely shut down every single one of them. In its response, Riot goes through each ask, detailing why it cannot accommodate them. 

Here is Riot’s response to each demand:

Institute a “Valorant-style” promotion and relegation between LCS and NACL

One of the biggest asks is for Riot to institute a Valorant-style promotion system that would foster the tier-two scene. However, Riot says it is “not a good idea at this time” to expand the league.

Riot explains that the system would run counter to LCS’s partnership model, in which orgs have paid a minimum of $10 million for a slot, and would “dilute LCS teams’ equity and put considerable downward pressure on the amount of revenue that we share with the teams”. 

“More teams in the pool would dilute the revenues that we share 50 percent with our teams under the partnership model,” Riot added. 

Riot guarantees LCS minimum contracts for the following year for the five players who win the LCS summer finals each year

Riot has similarly shut down this second demand, saying that “guaranteed LCS contracts for winners aren’t a necessary component of a healthy developmental league”. 

“Players should rise to the LCS based on merit, potential, and team fit rather than an artificially forced mechanism,” Riot said. 

“Our focus will be on finding ways to increase the flexibility and mobility of that movement rather than forcing it” Riot continues, promising to discuss initiatives to connect LCS and NACL players. 

Riot referenced the LCS Scouting Grounds, which was an annual event where lower-tier players could prove themselves to LCS teams. The event ran between 2016 and 2021.

Institute a 3/5 roster continuity rule to provide players on released NACL rosters first priority in maintaining their slots in the upcoming NACL season if a majority continue to compete together

Riot’s response to this demand was a short rebuttal. “Teams provide greater continuity and structure, and therefore we will continue our policy of slot ownership residing with organizations rather than players,” it said.

Riot commits to a revenue pool for player salaries of $300,000 per NACL team, per year

Riot once again said no. “This ask is for multiple millions in subsidies for the NACL. That isn’t sustainable – and to be brutally honest, it shouldn’t be necessary,” it wrote bluntly. 

“We have other Tier Two leagues around the world that thrive on their own, and we believe the NACL can get to that place too.”

However, Riot said it be making a one-time payment of $300,000 to the NACL’s Tournament Organizer, Rally Cry, to support NACL teams during the transition. 

Allow LCS orgs to partner with affiliates for cost-sharing

Riot said it already does allow teams to partner and form affiliate relationships between LCS and NACL teams, giving the example of Golden Guardians and Area of Effect Gold. 

“We’ve seen examples of partnerships between pro teams and Tier 2 teams across the globe result in greater upward mobility of pros and more sustainable Tier 2 ecosystems,” Riot noted.