It seems Immortals are out of the North American League of Legends Championship Series, and it’s reportedly because of a significant investment in their Los Angeles-based team for the Overwatch League.
The league Immortals actually made it into is starting to reveal more details – here’s everything we know about Overwatch League.
The news comes via ESPN, who report that Immortals had their application for the NA LCS denied. The report suggests that the denial comes in part because of the “organization’s significant financial commitment to create a live viewing experience” for its Overwatch team.
Other teams present in both the LCS and Overwatch League have continued presences in both, but Immortals’ investment apparently made their case different in the eyes of Riot. ESPN later updated their story to share reports that Riot have been concerned with Immortals’ finances as a whole. Immortals have operated at a loss since 2015, and it appears Riot were concerned the team wouldn’t be able to contribute to the revenue share.
The North America LCS is moving to a franchise model with permanent teams on the roster, and the same report suggests Echo Fox have secured one of those spots.
Over 100 teams applied for franchise status, but the final selection only has space for ten. Riot are compensating existing teams that don’t make the cut with a pool of buy-ins from new teams in the league. Immortals are currently set to receive the largest part of that compensation with ten shares.
None of the parties involved have offered official comments on the news, though some of Immortals’ players and coaches have essentially confirmed that they were cut on social media.