#LCSForever: Reactions to Andy Dinh’s Post on the Future of the LCS

Andy Dinh, Marc Merrill, and the future of professional League of Legends

Andy “Reginald” Dinh, Team SoloMid’s outspoken owner, stirred up quite the commotion in his interview with William “Scarra” Li over the weekend. If you haven’t seen the video, Riot’s response, or any of the aftermath, you can read our breakdown that came out at the start of it all.

This issue has accelerated quickly on social media over the last 24 hours and the #LCSForever hashtag has been born.

Since Sunday, both Andy and Marc “Tryandamere” Merrill, President and CMO of Riot Games, have written detailed thoughts on the subject of LCS sustainability. First was Andy’s:

Then came Marc:

This is heavy stuff, and it’s great to see that these issues are beginning to be discussed in a more constructive manner. It’s also interesting to see this drama played out in such a public forum. Marc’s post included mentions of revenue sharing, new team-specific in-game items, increased coordination using Riot’s online store, and even franchising. All these would be huge developments in professional LoL.

Owner reactions to Andy’s post

This discussion being played in the public sphere has allowed many around the league to comment. Andy’s team owners have united around him and the #LCSForever hashtag:

eSports analysts reactions

This commotion has not gone unnoticed by people covering LCS. Duncan “Thorin” Shields, in particular, does a good job comparing Riot’s running of the LCS to how established sports leagues operate. It’s easy to go a step further and say that certain structures that have made other sports leagues successful: stable owner base, broadcast rights, unions, etc. should be no-brainers to implement in the LCS.

To be in Season 6 of competitive League and only now think of sponsorships and revenue sharing is surprising. Riot’s primary responsibility is to run the game and protect/grow their product. But there are lots of smart people that are willing to work with them to make the professional side of LoL as good as the casual side (another good comparison made by Thorin). They just need to be made full financial partners and given real ability affect change.

Andy’s not right about everything, but he cares has a lot of good ideas. It will be exciting to see the proposal he and the other LCS owners have put in front of Riot. This controversy has already united them in a way we have not seen:

Players unite around #LCSForever… well mostly

And the players? They’re taking a more humorous route, but supportive all the same:

Okay, now we’re just trolling. But we are excited to see what changes are made in the professional dynamic to make #LCSForever a reality.

League has become bigger than Riot ever imagined it to, and it’s time for them to react accordingly.

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