LoL: Team reportedly selling LEC league spot for €45m – Schalke got a lot less in 2021
League of Legends is selling seats in the European professional league LEC again: Misfits Gaming is said to be giving up its place in the sun to a Spanish team for 45 million euros. Schalke 04 is probably annoyed. They had to sell in 2021 due to lack of money and received “only” 26.5 million euros. But a place in the league is apparently much more attractive now than it was a year ago.
How does it work with places in the LEC?
- The European professional league of LoL is the LEC: This is not a “classic sports league” that you can be promoted to or relegated to like the Bundesliga, but a “franchise league” like in the USA.
- The spots in the league “own” the teams, and the teams acquired the spots through a licensing process from Riot Games.
- You cannot be relegated from the league, but you can sell your place and license to another team.
Maybe the German hope from Berlin, Eintracht Spandau, will play in the LEC at some point:
Who is selling now? As several sources report, the “Misfits Gaming” team is selling its spot: they are known for their logo with a mean rabbit.
Team Misfits is officially based in Berlin – but many LoL teams do, because that’s where the LEC games are played. Misfits Gaming is not a typical “German” team, although with top planer “Irrelevant” there has actually been a German in the squad since May 2022.
In LoL, Misfits Gaming is more of a middle-class team: in spring 2022, they finished third in the league, but won only one game in the playoffs and were eliminated without a single word.
In the summer of 2022 they are currently 5-6 in the middle of the league and are playing for the golden pineapple.
Most recently, we reported on Misfits on MeinMMO when they signed the talented “God of Solo Queue” in LoL. But shortly afterwards MagiFelix was released again.
Misfits was promoted to the LCS EU in 2017 – won against Schalke
How did Misfits get into the LEC? Misfits Gaming had qualified for the relegation tournament in 2016 under the name “Renegades Bandidos”: 5 teams then played against each other, the 3 better teams were promoted to the LEC, which was still called “LCS EU” at the time. At that time you could still get into the league on a sporting basis.
The relegation tournament “EU LCS 2017 Spring Promotion” was then already played under the name “Misfits Gaming”.
Ironically, Misfits Gaming was one of the 3 teams to make the LCS in 2017 – Schalke 04 didn’t make the leap then and only entered the league a year later in 2018.
Spanish team probably enters the LEC – but not that of Ibai
Who is supposed to be buying the spot? There was talk that some of the “exciting young influencer teams” could buy the spot: like Karmine Corp or KOI, the team of mega-influencer IBAI and soccer star Piqué.
But now it looks as if the Spanish team Heretics is going to buy the spot in the league. But that’s not official yet.
Team Heretics was founded by YouTuber Jorge “Goorgo” Orejudo in 2016 and plays in the Spanish “LVP SL” league.
The most exciting players in their current team are midlaner Zwyroo (Poland) and botlaner Jackspektra (Norway), who could also be imagined in the LEC.
Germany loses its best pro team in LoL because Schalke fails at soccer
Spot in the LEC is now reportedly worth almost double what Schalke got
This is the exciting thing: According to reports, Team Misfits is said to be getting between 45 and 50 million euros for its spot.
Schalke 04, who had to sell their place in the 2021 league, received “only” 26.5 million euros for their place.
Schalke had to sell in 2021 due to financial difficulties after being relegated from the Bundesliga. Since then, a place in the LEC has apparently become even more valuable.
At the moment the sum is just a rumor – we will see how much Misfits Gaming really takes.
Why is the league more attractive? There is a big upgrade of e-sports in LoL, since the regional leagues have become much more exciting, the LoL in the top divisions is also more attractive.
LoL popularity explodes in 2022 after change in Europe
Reference-mein-mmo.de