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League of Legends European Championship takes new Saudi sponsor backed by MBS, employees speak out (update: partnership cancelled)

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Uzzy

Uzzy

Gabe’s little helper
Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,176
Hull, UK
Posting that sponsorship with the pride logo on your avatar is something alright. Fucking esportswashing.
 
Sabin

Sabin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,620
Pretty much the entire broadcasting crew of LEC made statements on twitter.

Very bad move by the managment of the LEC. They should have known better.
 
danhz

danhz

Member
Apr 20, 2018
3,238
Just saw this, fuck riot, they had 1 week ago their logo with the colour of the lgtb flag in their LEC matchs, and now they do this? I really hope this gets tons of shit
 
Terbinator

Terbinator

Member
Oct 29, 2017
10,247
Eeek. The Pride crown logo as well though.

Edit: I wonder how far in advance this was known by the casters given Quickshot only recently created a new Twitter without the Riot handle for speaking out purposes.

 
IHaveIce

IHaveIce

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
4,747
Wow very bad decision by Riot.

I mean one of their best casters Froskurinn is an outspoken part of the LGBTQ community and they do this shit
 
Mifec

Mifec

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,744
Rapist company Riot doing deplorable things, who woulda thunk?

Like the leads who fostered a toxic culture are still there as leads, the lawyer manipulation memes from a couple months ago. No 1 year later it's "better" article is ever gonna change anything.
 
lemonade

lemonade

Member
May 8, 2018
3,044
Do note that from Frosk's tweet, it seems the decision was made by someone at LEC (Riot EU), not Riot HQ (NA).
 
Milennia

Milennia

Prophet of Truth - Community Resetter
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,254
Seems like orgs will take on any sponsor that gives them a significant amount.

Also seems like they might lose their casting crew judging from the "idk" feeling in these comments
 
lemonade

lemonade

Member
May 8, 2018
3,044
Costy said:
They will report to the head of esports anyway who then will report up to the CEO, so you can't separate it like that.
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I agree. LEC management had the opportunity to stop this but chose not. Should have seen the writings on the wall when LEC forced casters to go freelance. They clearly didn't care about how their employees feel.
 
Phellps

Phellps

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,807
What the fuck, I had never heard of this Neom project before. Fucking megalomaniac capitalists.
 

Deleted member 8852

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,896
With the fucking pride logo in their handle as well.

Pretty much the entire on-air cast got blindsided and I can't imagine they'll just lie down and take this. Absolutely terrible move by whoever made this decision over at LEC management.
 
Jebusman

Jebusman

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,086
Halifax, NS
Nobody is too good for Saudi money.

Doesn't matter what your moral or ethical code is, when the crown prince comes waving those dollar bills, it seems everyone caves.

Good luck to the broadcasters/talent who are going to speak up about this, but I don't have much hope it'll be enough to overcome the sheer power of cash.
 

whistleklik

Member
Oct 27, 2017
260
Kentucky
I dont think anyone at riot can complain about this considering they are owned by a company that has a hand in the cultural genocide of chinese Uighurs.
 
Sr Kitsune

Sr Kitsune

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,955
Baja California, Mexico
It seems the backlash and the general pushback made them walk back this.

4.png


A statement from Alberto Guerrero, Director of Esports, EMEA.
"As a company and as a league, we know that it's important to recognize when we make mistakes and quickly work to correct them. After further reflection, while we remain steadfastly committed to all of our players and fans worldwide including those living in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, the LEC has ended its partnership with NEOM, effective immediately. In an effort to expand our esports ecosystem, we moved too quickly to cement this partnership and caused rifts in the very community we seek to grow. While we missed our own expectations in this instance, we're committed to reexamining our internal structures to ensure this doesn't happen again."
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LoL Esports

The best place to watch LoL Esports and earn rewards!
lolesports.com lolesports.com

(That's literally the whole post in their site)
 
Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,658
Sr Kitsune said:
It seems the backlash and the general pushback made them walk back this.

4.png




LoL Esports

The best place to watch LoL Esports and earn rewards!
lolesports.com lolesports.com

(That's literally the whole post in their site)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Good.

The fact that people in the company speaking out ended it is a net positive.

The partnership shouldn't have happened in the first place but at least it shows the power employees can have by speaking out. As the /r/leagueoflegends thread was talking about, like EVERYONE in Riot was speaking out, even in parts of the company you wouldn't even think would.

At least there wasn't going to be a NEOM map like Counter-Strike is apparently getting, yikes. (though don't believe BLAST has anything to do with Valve)
 
Sr Kitsune

Sr Kitsune

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,955
Baja California, Mexico
Some new information:






A lot of respect for them. Putting their jobs on the line, in the middle of a pandemic. I don't think I would be able to do the same.
 
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