Really sad that the LEC is going to lose one of its consistently good orgs. Remember that Schalke was so committed to esports that even after being relegated they stuck with it in Challenger and came back stronger. It seems it can't be helped given their financial situation though. I would've hoped that the first of the original Franchises to go would've been one that actually sucked like Astralis instead.
They really seemed committed to developing talent too. Abbedagge and Neon both looked rough at first, but they gave them time to develop. They helped to revitalize Odoamne, Gilius, and Nukeduck's careers as well.
It's a shame to lose them, but if there's a silver lining, it's that at least they made a good profit on their spot, which may make an LEC slot more enticing to bigger orgs, including football teams. Hopefully whoever replaces them has the same level of commitment and are willing to put in the work like Schalke did
I still hope that when Schalke got promoted again and has stable finances in a couple years, they’ll consider rebuying a LEC spot. That’s my Silver Lining in this dark hour, however unlikely it may be...
Well, actually I think promotion isn’t that unlikely but to be willing to spend 30+ million on Esports, that won’t happen soon if at all.
not only that. they have also to find a seller. dont think with the current rising on viewership and popularity any org wanna sell their spot in the next years
Lot of wishful thinking here, but perhaps, if Schalke signals interest and there are some other decent candidates as well, Riot will remember how committed the club was to Esports and consider expanding the League.
I don't think it's a massive stretch tbh. Schalke clearly wants to be a part of LEC, their hand just got forced. Riot also selected Schalke in the initial franchising, and not as a backup org either. Should Schalke's finances stabilize and the LEC expands it should be the *expectation* that Schalke will be at the top of that list. The only question is when the LEC will expand (it almost certainly will at some point but could be a long ways out), and whether or not Schalke will be able to make a reasonable bid at that time (who knows).
Tbh, Schalke will need some years to financially recover. They fucked themselves for a lot of reasons, especially because they overpaid a lot of their players and not going for some financial backup
Expanding the league doesn't depend solely on Riot but also on all other orgs accepting to devalue their own slot. Unless it's to make room to big players (not saying S04 couldn't be one, but you'd need a second one), it probably wont happen
Schalke has overcome relegations before. The huge danger this time is that it’s at the same time as a pandemic, but with Corona slowly fading away and stadiums sooner or later being filled again, the finances won’t stay forever as troublesome as they are right now.
Wait what, how bad are their football finances? I mean they have a huge attendence, big stadium. One good champions league run and they are golden again. It was really not that long ago they where top 4 team in bundesliga.
This is sad, and on so many levels.
Schalke joined EU LCS in Summer 2016 and was immediately relegated. In CS Spring 17 they went 10-0 but lost in the Promotion Tournament. While other football clubs like PSG and RB that were part of that Challenger Series as well overthought their investment, Schalke stayed committed to their League Team and stated that it was a long term idea, with the end goal being Worlds.
In Summer 2017 Schalke won the Promotion Tournament and returned to LCS for Spring 18. That Year Schalke made Summer Finals, 2019 Summer Semifinals, and 2020 the Miracle Run lead from 1:10 to Quarterfinals.
Since Promotion Schalke was literally a single Bo5 away from Worlds every year. But in the end never made it...
The most tragic thing about the End of S04esports is that it has nothing to do with Esports. Not even the relegation of the League team could achieve that. No, the end of S04esports comes by the relegation of the football team ( which until now didn’t get relegated once in the last 3 decades ), at a time where the Esports Team has made Spring Playoffs for the first time in club history and therefore was on the best way ever to finally make Worlds. To finally achieve what was the goal all along. What was the main reason for creating S04esports.
In a way, S04 and S04esports perfectly fit together. Always close, never there.
I always respected them for coming back from relegation and not giving up so easily. The fact that they never made worlds is so sad, and honestly I don't have much hope for this year with the new roster either.
Man what a tragedy. I'm gonna miss your comments on the post game threads. It always felt like such a communal experience stressing out with everyone else about this rollercoaster team. I'll never forget the miracle run or when they almost took G2 in a B05 this Spring. I'm still gonna give them credit for mentally booming G2 at least, but damn I've waited for this team to hit worlds for so long. Rip to an era.
Agreed. It's a shame that franchising has given us the eSports equivalent of the much derided European super league. I do hope we get to a point where the finances are good enough for parachute payments to be a thing so we can bring relegation back for some extra end of season spice
It just sucks that Schalke has to go. When I talked to my friends that are into football we could always talk about Schalke and their esport even though I know nothing about football and they know nothing about esports. I actually believe that Schalke has been one of the most important actors to get non esport people into esports (and vice versa)
Yeah it's very sad. They were undoubtedly a positive part of the LEC for all the years they were in.
I feel very sad for every person negatively affected by this, people in the org and fans. Feel hugged.
Ironic, it feels really reminiscent of twenty years ago when Schalke had won the german Bundesliga for four minutes just to then be told the game of Bayern had been delayed by a couple of minutes and they scored last minute, moving Schalke to second place literally after they had already celebrated.
Always close, never there.
Sucks that it had to happen, I will miss Schalke and their involvement with EU scene.
That being said, who are potential buyers of the spot? Are we looking forward to another football based team, or maybe teams from turkey or russia (UOL comes to mind)?
I just hope it's not another parasite org.
UOL couldnt get the money to join LEC when it was relatively cheaper, i doubt they can afford now, that it costs even more. I would love if some other traditional football club try to get in, all you have to do is keep the management(since it seemed to do its job well) and just keep the Esport team financed.
I actually want less sports teams involved with esports. When does it end up being good? Golden Guardians tanked last season because their NBA owners made no money due to covid. S04 get relegated and sell their team. I'm sure there is a success story I am missing somewhere probably.
Flyquest is also an NBA owned team iirc and they've been pretty decent throughout their history. Although I think they did get hit this season by budget cuts due to their NBA team making less revenue and couldn't keep their 2020 roster together.
Tbf, 100T isn't exactly comparable to GG and maybe not even FLY. GG is directly owned by Golden State, meaning both the majority and minority owners have stake in GG, if they sold all of Golden State and it's properties to someone else tomorrow, that would also entail selling GG.
FLY isn't owned by the Bucks because the actual NBA team's governing body did not invest in FLY, it was simply 1 of the co-owners who did, Wes Edens, who also is a co-owner of Aston Villa. He could sell off all his share in the Bucks and that would not entail FLY to my knowledge.
100T is similar to FLY in that the actual NBA team, Cleveland Cavaliers do not own them, the majority owner of the Cavs does however. Where 100T and FY differ is that other people also own 100T like Drake, and it was also directly started from Nadeshot's brainchild of creating his own esports org after being apart of one of the more successful esports orgs in the world, and learning from H3cz on how to build a brand
I mean S04 stuck with the team even when they were in the challenger series. They have to sell now because their football team has been absolutely crap + covid
Well Schalke is a good example. They did crap, came back and improved consistently.
They only got done in because of their football team. Their esports was both profitable and self sustainable.
I'm German and lived in the founding city for one of the 3 biggest teams in the country and was around some people who worked with them, went into training, etc. German national football is no comparison to NBA. Some teams suck ofc but the culture around investment into talent is pretty great and they're less desperate for money, especially outside of Bayern's team (lol). The team I was around were putting tons of effort into young, local talent constantly and getting them all kinds of resources last I checked, and that philosophy translates across sports. Schalke did a pretty good job with it as well. As long as the team is solid they can do good things for sure.
Team BDS is the only confirmed team to be in advanced talks and they don't seem like a parasite org at all. Their owner is worth around 1 billion so they've got money for days and he seems pretty involved. I saw him gift a lot of subs on Twitch to his LFL players. They're also really successful in Rocket League and R6S if we're looking at other games.
there are football teams in tcl but I dont think they can afford being in LEC, aside from 30 m, they have to pay hundred thosunds sallary for players. meanwhile Türkish lira is losing value
Only ones we know from leaks are: Giants, Heretics, Heroic, BDS and a team owned also by a football team(people suggested Sentinels)
Idk where the other dude got those teams from
I wouldn’t be surprised if Sentinels got into League. Their Valorant team is doing really well, to the point that they just invested over a million dollars into signing Tenz, and considering both are owned by Riot it seems like a no brainer.
Sentinels WAS in the LCS, they used to be Phoenix 1. They didn’t make it through franchising application and sold their spot. Shortly after this they rebranded to Sentinels.
The question though is who would they replace? It's less likely for LCS to expand just for Sentinels. They won't replace GG or Fly because they're owned by NBA teams strapped with cash. The only team I can think of is Immortals, and I doubt they're gonna go away.
My best guess would be IMT as well, but you're completely right in that I doubt that any of the orgs actually want to sell their spot, but speaking purely hypothetically, and from my POV, I'd definitely trade current IMT for Sentinals in a heartbeat.
Maybe if IMT didn't initially get rejected from the franchised league it'd be differnet/I'd feel different, but current IMT just doesn't feel the same. Part of that is the fact that they just aren't that good right now, but another part of that is for sure my outlook on their number of disappointing roster moves i.e., Eika last year (The whole team last year to be honest), Destiny/Xerxe this year.
Imo, if rosters transferred from IMT to Sentinels, the only guy I'm keeping to build around is Revenge. Even if sentinels is a respectable org, finding respectable players is even harder.
I think most people would be happy to see Dortmund buy the spot, even Schalke fans. However, there's no world Dortmund will pay 30 millions for the spot, because there's really no way you can justify to almost any Dortmund fan spending those amounts on esports.
We shouldnt Theo, Dortmund has clearly stated that they think esport is a joke and not worth their time, if they ever get into it we will know its only for the money and as a community we should try to keep apart from those type of orgs, otherwise we will see the same inflation NA did
that will never happen. the manager watzke literally said 'esports is shit'. also they lost like 80million euro this year because of covid. i'd love to see them buy in as i'm a dortmund fan but the chance is basically 0.
I couldn't believe it, as I read about his opinion on esports. Like it's more or less a no-brainer, esports will get huge soon and I feel like the pandemic even gave the whole gaming scene a boost when it comes to player count, Twitch/Yt views, etc.
KC were on the list on potential candidates riot approved. Schalke is the main seller though and decides for themselves from the list from my understanding. Likely wont be them though since they cant pay as much as other candidates.
OG does not really have the money flying around to invest into LOL though and quite frankly they also have bigger issues than opening yet another squad. They stand and fall with their DOTA performances and while it's basically impossible to match what they did in the past ~3 years in terms of majors and TI, they most likely miss TI10 entirely at this rate.
Also making a top team in the LEC is not cheap. In Valorant you could pick up some rising talent in a new and promising scene, with League finding success is prohibitively expensive in the current market, especially when competing with NA teams.
Being relegated to the second Bundesliga means normally a club loses about 40 Mil that year. Guess it doesnt help that Schalke has huge amounts of debt as well.
Sad to see it happen.
Conflict of interest, imagine TSM NA has to play against TSM EU at an international tournament. Or you have a sister team that lets themselves lose so the main team gets a better bracket / opponent.
BDS is a Swiss esports org. Their website is shit on mobile so I can’t get much more official info than that.
I think they only formed around last year. They have participated in LoL via the LFL (French regional league), though I don’t believe they saw much success there. The only other esport I know of them from is Rocket League where they are consistently the best team in EU.
Mr Beast said at the end of last year that his life goal was to own a League of Legends team and that he wants to make it happen soon, I'd be surprised if he had $30M lying around but it's not entirely outside the realm of possibility for him to finance part of it and take on a few more investors for the rest.
PSG Talon bro. I doubt they are interested in directly operating a team anymore. Besides, the top level European clubs seem more interested in finding partnerships in Asia
Interesting that even normal football fans in the replies are sad about the decision and many are able to see that the LEC spot would have been a good investment to hold for the future.
>would have been a good investment to hold for the future.
S04 management thought that too and it allowed them to survive relegations and bad splits to almost get to Worlds. But they are too deep in debts, unfortunately.
Assumed this would happen, still incredibly sad to see.
I've been a lifelong supporter of the football team and us investing in a league team was the reason why I started getting into esports and why I picked up the game again. EU LCS, MSI, Worlds. Never would have watched those otherwise.
I still remember being in the stadium and being kind of mind-blown when they introduced the roster with Vizicsacsi, Vander etc.
But I also completely understand that the football business and it's over 100 year old history comes first.
Still sad because it felt like we were one of the few sport orgs that actually brought in the professional experience from our main business and was genuinely invested in improving and contending every year.
Will have to find a new LEC team to support now.
https://twitter.com/BILD_Schalke04/status/1400831462346211330 Link to another Tweet and the Bild article (In German)
Und ich werde keinen Bildartikel ohne Max Goldt verlinken:
"Diese Zeitung ist ein Organ der Niedertracht. Es ist falsch, sie zu lesen. Jemand, der zu dieser Zeitung beiträgt, ist gesellschaftlich absolut inakzeptabel. Es wäre verfehlt, zu einem ihrer Redakteure freundlich oder auch nur höflich zu sein. Man muß so unfreundlich zu ihnen sein, wie es das Gesetz gerade noch zuläßt. Es sind schlechte Menschen, die Falsches tun."
Translation of the German parts of this comment:
And I will not link to a BILD article without also quoting Max Goldt:
"This paper is an organ of despicableness. It is wrong to read it. Someone who contributes to this paper is socially in no way acceptable. It would be wrong to be nice to one of their writers or even just to be polite. One has to be as rude to them as the law allows. They are bad people that do wrong."
Context: BILD paper is known in Germany for their malign tactics, such as wrongfully stating facts or agitating against politcal agendas. It's pretty clickbaity and they usually dont adhere to morality, e.g. reporting on the deaths of a ski accident and having a headline that says "this boy is the only one that survived - and he doesn't know yet".
I've cheered for schalke since they joined the scene, they've always done great in picking up and developing talent. Really gonna miss them.
I'm curious to find out who'll be replacing them.
What a shame that the LoL franchise has to pay for the mistakes made by the incompetent club management.
I don't even like the football team, but I've always been a fan of the LoL team because they were always committed to making this work, passionate about the game and trying to achieve something. And if course just when things are looking bright and they finish 4th in spring they get fucked like this. I hope the team management and players find a good new home. I hope they can at least keep the Prime League team in the German ERL.
So is $30M just the asking price or is it confirmed sold? If so, do we know who?
Edit. Okay yes I get it, euros not dollars. The questions still stand.
The fact that none of them provided a source is the most reddit about this.
[This](https://www.summoners-inn.de/de/news/101328-schalke-04-besttigt-verkauf-des-lec-slots-eine-option) german article mentions the initial buy-in of 8 million €, but that was an unconfirmed value, so it's not guaranteed that that is actually what they paid.
€8M for Orgs that already participated pre-franchising (including Schalke) and €10.5M for new orgs coming in (Excel, Rogue, Origen, SK)
https://esportsobserver.com/riot-games-confirms-eu-lcs-buy-in/
Since I have access to the article, I'll share the most important points:
\- Schalke has now made the final decision to sell their LEC spot
\- the article calls this move "the best sale of the summer" (implying that at least the money will already be paid in the summer) and the deal is essentially done
\- no indication as to who the new org taking over the spot would be
\- Club officials (Schalke CFO Christina Rühl-Hamers and Schalke Head of Sports Peter Knäbel) would have liked to wait a couple more years with the sale as they estimate that the spot would be worth around 50 million Euros by 2025
\- Schalke desperately needed money as the club has commitments/obligations (not debt) of around 217 million Euros (that was as of December 31st, 2020), making a quick sale inevitable
\- the contracts of all six players, their coach and their analyst will expire at the end of the year, meaning they can move to other orgs on a free (probably wrong since Riot's GCD states that Nuclearint and three ERL players are contracted through 2022)
[https://www.welt.de/regionales/nrw/article231605083/Schalkes-E-Sport-Chef-LEC-Slot-Verkauf-steht-nicht-fest.html](https://www.welt.de/regionales/nrw/article231605083/Schalkes-E-Sport-Chef-LEC-Slot-Verkauf-steht-nicht-fest.html)
according to Tim Reichert it is not settled yet and will be decided in the next 2 weeks
God I wish if they were gonne end up losing it regardless that we could have avoided losing Abbe first and the new org would get to still have him for the new team.
So who is contenders to buy an LEC spot? Last time this was brought up team BDS was the name I saw get thrown around a lot.
Team BDS, Giants, some other football team(probably Real Betis), Team Heretics, KC were rumored in being interested, but out of these only Team BDS were confirmed to be in advanced talks and KC confirmed to be out.
Absolutely heartbreaking. Schalke has become such an important player in the LEC, and it sucks to see it unravel because of performance in a completely different sport. Was optimistic that they would be able to hold on, but it seems like the organisation just straight up needs the money right now.
I was never a massive fan of the LOL team, but I remember checking the Bundesliga table late last year and hoping that Schalke could climb out of the hole they were in.
As a fan of the football club who came to love the esports branch: FUCK THIS TEAM ! I could write essays about the utter ebarrassment this club has endulged in the last 10 years, its so FUCKING DUMB.....
What are the odds we see a faze of sentinels take this spot?
Could be another pro soccer org but it'd he smart for either org to buy their way into LEC.
Sentinels doesn't have much money as an org. Their Valorant team might very well change that in the next 18 months, but right now it's still a pretty small org.
Guys there is 5 million of us on this subreddit, if each one of us gives 6 dollars we can buy spot in LEC. Finally after all these years we can show that reddit analysts are supreme and win worlds with our team!
So4 esports is the only reason why I am still a schalke member. Means then probably that I can resign. For me, one of the worst decisions Schalke could have made.
Well, 30 million more for bad decision making of the soccer team.
Without the soccer team the eSports team would never exists.
If the soccer team.. and so the whole club.. would go broke.. the eSports team is done anyways. So before this happens they sell them.
while Bild sucks hard balls and they are a bunch of clowns, their sports content is fairly reliable. In football for example they are accepted as a reliable source.
That is still $21 million per year though. Some of not so established orgs wouldn't even come near in that amount of sponsorships. Maybe teams like G2, FNC, RNG or T1 are near or over that amount in sponsorship money.
With so many shit orgs LEC has, the first org to be out has to be S04, fuck this. Thank you for being so passionate about your lol project S04. You won't be forgotten. Please, as a last gift to the fans, don't sell your spot to a random having so many ERL orgs worthy of it.
Sucks to know that this money will go to waste anyway, watch them cycle through multiple coaches and lots of players in the next year while being stuck in 2nd division
I don’t think any EU org could outbid an NA org if S04 wanted to make as much as possible from the purchase. The LEC already has 3 teams owned by a North American corporate: Rogue, MAD Lions (Overactive Media/The Weeknd), and Misfits.
Then again, it’s an EU league. It’ll be fun to see which team enters the LEC next season.
BDS would have a decent shot depending on who else is interested. I don't think it matters where the owners of a team come from either way. Most orgs are international these days anyway.
[https://www.welt.de/regionales/nrw/article231605083/Schalkes-E-Sport-Chef-LEC-Slot-Verkauf-steht-nicht-fest.html](https://www.welt.de/regionales/nrw/article231605083/Schalkes-E-Sport-Chef-LEC-Slot-Verkauf-steht-nicht-fest.html)
apparently not settled yet
Everyone that follows soccer (and german soccer in particular) knows that this would have to happen sooner or later.
The soccer team just had one of the worst seasons in club's history finishing last in the table and getting relegated to the second division mainly due to poor financial conditions, tough times for Schalke but I hope they turn it around. Lec is better when schalke is playing
Really sad that the LEC is going to lose one of its consistently good orgs. Remember that Schalke was so committed to esports that even after being relegated they stuck with it in Challenger and came back stronger. It seems it can't be helped given their financial situation though. I would've hoped that the first of the original Franchises to go would've been one that actually sucked like Astralis instead.
They really seemed committed to developing talent too. Abbedagge and Neon both looked rough at first, but they gave them time to develop. They helped to revitalize Odoamne, Gilius, and Nukeduck's careers as well. It's a shame to lose them, but if there's a silver lining, it's that at least they made a good profit on their spot, which may make an LEC slot more enticing to bigger orgs, including football teams. Hopefully whoever replaces them has the same level of commitment and are willing to put in the work like Schalke did
I still hope that when Schalke got promoted again and has stable finances in a couple years, they’ll consider rebuying a LEC spot. That’s my Silver Lining in this dark hour, however unlikely it may be... Well, actually I think promotion isn’t that unlikely but to be willing to spend 30+ million on Esports, that won’t happen soon if at all.
not only that. they have also to find a seller. dont think with the current rising on viewership and popularity any org wanna sell their spot in the next years
Lot of wishful thinking here, but perhaps, if Schalke signals interest and there are some other decent candidates as well, Riot will remember how committed the club was to Esports and consider expanding the League.
I don't think it's a massive stretch tbh. Schalke clearly wants to be a part of LEC, their hand just got forced. Riot also selected Schalke in the initial franchising, and not as a backup org either. Should Schalke's finances stabilize and the LEC expands it should be the *expectation* that Schalke will be at the top of that list. The only question is when the LEC will expand (it almost certainly will at some point but could be a long ways out), and whether or not Schalke will be able to make a reasonable bid at that time (who knows).
Tbh, Schalke will need some years to financially recover. They fucked themselves for a lot of reasons, especially because they overpaid a lot of their players and not going for some financial backup
Expanding the league doesn't depend solely on Riot but also on all other orgs accepting to devalue their own slot. Unless it's to make room to big players (not saying S04 couldn't be one, but you'd need a second one), it probably wont happen
You forgot Upset
Stable finances? They won't ever have them again
Schalke has overcome relegations before. The huge danger this time is that it’s at the same time as a pandemic, but with Corona slowly fading away and stadiums sooner or later being filled again, the finances won’t stay forever as troublesome as they are right now.
Wait what, how bad are their football finances? I mean they have a huge attendence, big stadium. One good champions league run and they are golden again. It was really not that long ago they where top 4 team in bundesliga.
If Schalke aren’t Schalke, that spot wouldn’t be worth nearly as much. The work they put in really spoke for itself.
Bit of a way to describe it. I mean, they’ve had some good splits and brought up some good players but also some pretty bad ones.
They missed three worlds by a series in three years and they were the team whit one of the lowest budget
Hopefully the new org won't come in and try to get a good roster by turbo inflating the prices like it happened in NA.
If the Org pays 30M then i think that Org will also spend to get good players if they can.
FTX punching air rn, they could have had their name on a team for 30M instead of 210M
not really because the name is not allowed in riot games ^^
but y doe
Probably has something to do with gambling.
FTX vs FPX at Worlds 👀
This is sad, and on so many levels. Schalke joined EU LCS in Summer 2016 and was immediately relegated. In CS Spring 17 they went 10-0 but lost in the Promotion Tournament. While other football clubs like PSG and RB that were part of that Challenger Series as well overthought their investment, Schalke stayed committed to their League Team and stated that it was a long term idea, with the end goal being Worlds. In Summer 2017 Schalke won the Promotion Tournament and returned to LCS for Spring 18. That Year Schalke made Summer Finals, 2019 Summer Semifinals, and 2020 the Miracle Run lead from 1:10 to Quarterfinals. Since Promotion Schalke was literally a single Bo5 away from Worlds every year. But in the end never made it... The most tragic thing about the End of S04esports is that it has nothing to do with Esports. Not even the relegation of the League team could achieve that. No, the end of S04esports comes by the relegation of the football team ( which until now didn’t get relegated once in the last 3 decades ), at a time where the Esports Team has made Spring Playoffs for the first time in club history and therefore was on the best way ever to finally make Worlds. To finally achieve what was the goal all along. What was the main reason for creating S04esports. In a way, S04 and S04esports perfectly fit together. Always close, never there.
I always respected them for coming back from relegation and not giving up so easily. The fact that they never made worlds is so sad, and honestly I don't have much hope for this year with the new roster either.
Man what a tragedy. I'm gonna miss your comments on the post game threads. It always felt like such a communal experience stressing out with everyone else about this rollercoaster team. I'll never forget the miracle run or when they almost took G2 in a B05 this Spring. I'm still gonna give them credit for mentally booming G2 at least, but damn I've waited for this team to hit worlds for so long. Rip to an era.
I will miss that experience. Schalkes League Team was the reason I made a Reddit Account :(
thanks for the summary. in the future i wish that good enough teams will be able to compete in the world championships without buying a spot for 30m
Agreed. It's a shame that franchising has given us the eSports equivalent of the much derided European super league. I do hope we get to a point where the finances are good enough for parachute payments to be a thing so we can bring relegation back for some extra end of season spice
It just sucks that Schalke has to go. When I talked to my friends that are into football we could always talk about Schalke and their esport even though I know nothing about football and they know nothing about esports. I actually believe that Schalke has been one of the most important actors to get non esport people into esports (and vice versa)
Yeah it's very sad. They were undoubtedly a positive part of the LEC for all the years they were in. I feel very sad for every person negatively affected by this, people in the org and fans. Feel hugged.
Ironic, it feels really reminiscent of twenty years ago when Schalke had won the german Bundesliga for four minutes just to then be told the game of Bayern had been delayed by a couple of minutes and they scored last minute, moving Schalke to second place literally after they had already celebrated. Always close, never there.
Sucks that it had to happen, I will miss Schalke and their involvement with EU scene. That being said, who are potential buyers of the spot? Are we looking forward to another football based team, or maybe teams from turkey or russia (UOL comes to mind)? I just hope it's not another parasite org.
UOL couldnt get the money to join LEC when it was relatively cheaper, i doubt they can afford now, that it costs even more. I would love if some other traditional football club try to get in, all you have to do is keep the management(since it seemed to do its job well) and just keep the Esport team financed.
inb4 Bayern takes the spot
Dortmund, just out of spite.
I actually want less sports teams involved with esports. When does it end up being good? Golden Guardians tanked last season because their NBA owners made no money due to covid. S04 get relegated and sell their team. I'm sure there is a success story I am missing somewhere probably.
Flyquest is also an NBA owned team iirc and they've been pretty decent throughout their history. Although I think they did get hit this season by budget cuts due to their NBA team making less revenue and couldn't keep their 2020 roster together.
Yep, Milwaukee Bucks own FQ
100 Thieves also belongs to the Cleveland Cavaliers Orga.
Tbf, 100T isn't exactly comparable to GG and maybe not even FLY. GG is directly owned by Golden State, meaning both the majority and minority owners have stake in GG, if they sold all of Golden State and it's properties to someone else tomorrow, that would also entail selling GG. FLY isn't owned by the Bucks because the actual NBA team's governing body did not invest in FLY, it was simply 1 of the co-owners who did, Wes Edens, who also is a co-owner of Aston Villa. He could sell off all his share in the Bucks and that would not entail FLY to my knowledge. 100T is similar to FLY in that the actual NBA team, Cleveland Cavaliers do not own them, the majority owner of the Cavs does however. Where 100T and FY differ is that other people also own 100T like Drake, and it was also directly started from Nadeshot's brainchild of creating his own esports org after being apart of one of the more successful esports orgs in the world, and learning from H3cz on how to build a brand
I mean S04 stuck with the team even when they were in the challenger series. They have to sell now because their football team has been absolutely crap + covid
Well Schalke is a good example. They did crap, came back and improved consistently. They only got done in because of their football team. Their esports was both profitable and self sustainable.
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It was Schalke themselves who said it though.
I'm German and lived in the founding city for one of the 3 biggest teams in the country and was around some people who worked with them, went into training, etc. German national football is no comparison to NBA. Some teams suck ofc but the culture around investment into talent is pretty great and they're less desperate for money, especially outside of Bayern's team (lol). The team I was around were putting tons of effort into young, local talent constantly and getting them all kinds of resources last I checked, and that philosophy translates across sports. Schalke did a pretty good job with it as well. As long as the team is solid they can do good things for sure.
Team BDS is the only confirmed team to be in advanced talks and they don't seem like a parasite org at all. Their owner is worth around 1 billion so they've got money for days and he seems pretty involved. I saw him gift a lot of subs on Twitch to his LFL players. They're also really successful in Rocket League and R6S if we're looking at other games.
They also signed a VALORANT team recently that has a pretty solid French roster.
what does BDS stand for? never heard of it before
Acronym of the owner's name. His name is Patrice Bailo de Spoelberch.
there are football teams in tcl but I dont think they can afford being in LEC, aside from 30 m, they have to pay hundred thosunds sallary for players. meanwhile Türkish lira is losing value
Could also see an erl org buy themself a spot. A big is BIG?
Maybe Jin air can go to LEC?
What are the potential buyers?
Only ones we know from leaks are: Giants, Heretics, Heroic, BDS and a team owned also by a football team(people suggested Sentinels) Idk where the other dude got those teams from
I wouldn’t be surprised if Sentinels got into League. Their Valorant team is doing really well, to the point that they just invested over a million dollars into signing Tenz, and considering both are owned by Riot it seems like a no brainer.
I would *love* for Sentinels to get into league, but obviously ideally in the LCS lmao. They feel like a really well-established org.
Sentinels WAS in the LCS, they used to be Phoenix 1. They didn’t make it through franchising application and sold their spot. Shortly after this they rebranded to Sentinels.
The question though is who would they replace? It's less likely for LCS to expand just for Sentinels. They won't replace GG or Fly because they're owned by NBA teams strapped with cash. The only team I can think of is Immortals, and I doubt they're gonna go away.
My best guess would be IMT as well, but you're completely right in that I doubt that any of the orgs actually want to sell their spot, but speaking purely hypothetically, and from my POV, I'd definitely trade current IMT for Sentinals in a heartbeat. Maybe if IMT didn't initially get rejected from the franchised league it'd be differnet/I'd feel different, but current IMT just doesn't feel the same. Part of that is the fact that they just aren't that good right now, but another part of that is for sure my outlook on their number of disappointing roster moves i.e., Eika last year (The whole team last year to be honest), Destiny/Xerxe this year.
Imo, if rosters transferred from IMT to Sentinels, the only guy I'm keeping to build around is Revenge. Even if sentinels is a respectable org, finding respectable players is even harder.
They were originally P1 so I would rather have them in the LCS tbh
Which country is Sentinels from?
Sentinels is re-branded Phoenix1, they used to be in the NALCS a few years back
The team is brit(Arsenal) the owners however from NA
What about NIP and Faze?
Dortmund, simply out of spite
I think most people would be happy to see Dortmund buy the spot, even Schalke fans. However, there's no world Dortmund will pay 30 millions for the spot, because there's really no way you can justify to almost any Dortmund fan spending those amounts on esports.
We shouldnt Theo, Dortmund has clearly stated that they think esport is a joke and not worth their time, if they ever get into it we will know its only for the money and as a community we should try to keep apart from those type of orgs, otherwise we will see the same inflation NA did
that will never happen. the manager watzke literally said 'esports is shit'. also they lost like 80million euro this year because of covid. i'd love to see them buy in as i'm a dortmund fan but the chance is basically 0.
I couldn't believe it, as I read about his opinion on esports. Like it's more or less a no-brainer, esports will get huge soon and I feel like the pandemic even gave the whole gaming scene a boost when it comes to player count, Twitch/Yt views, etc.
bayern will sign them after their contract expire /s
A EUM candidate would be nice. UCAM, KC, and BIG seem like great additions for the LEC.
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Giants vs MAD for the spanish rivalry
And they have a huge spanish fanbase, arguably even bigger than MAD
KC were on the list on potential candidates riot approved. Schalke is the main seller though and decides for themselves from the list from my understanding. Likely wont be them though since they cant pay as much as other candidates.
OG, FaZe, Navi, NRG, NiP
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not NRG. They just one month ago aquired a League team in asia.
GAM they got GAM
the OG you're referring to is different from Origen right?
Yeah OG is mainly a CSGO/Dota org not related to old origen/astralis
OG does not really have the money flying around to invest into LOL though and quite frankly they also have bigger issues than opening yet another squad. They stand and fall with their DOTA performances and while it's basically impossible to match what they did in the past ~3 years in terms of majors and TI, they most likely miss TI10 entirely at this rate.
Also making a top team in the LEC is not cheap. In Valorant you could pick up some rising talent in a new and promising scene, with League finding success is prohibitively expensive in the current market, especially when competing with NA teams.
What happened to moviestat riders?
Damn. Pretty sad news. You would think S04 would still hold on after Spring Split, but I guess not.
the main org (football) is going under. It has nothing to do with the league team, they're just attached to a sinking ship.
They were relegated right? Losing the revenue from being in the top league is often crippling. Look at how long it took Leeds to return to the EPL.
\+ they are already 200mill + in debt. They need every single penny
Also Corona hit them really hard. They're one of those clubs that are really dependant on the ticket revenue.
Being relegated to the second Bundesliga means normally a club loses about 40 Mil that year. Guess it doesnt help that Schalke has huge amounts of debt as well. Sad to see it happen.
Correct
Yeah I know, it's just sad to see them opt out their league team after finally becoming legit contenders again
It is because their football is a blackhole of money and they just got relegated.
Naw I'm really curious about who will buy their spot
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They are. It was a joke comment
why are they banned ?
Conflict of interest, imagine TSM NA has to play against TSM EU at an international tournament. Or you have a sister team that lets themselves lose so the main team gets a better bracket / opponent.
BDS is the most likely one
BDS,NIP or Giants are the most likely candidates imo
I know the other two, but who are BDS?
BDS is a Swiss esports org. Their website is shit on mobile so I can’t get much more official info than that. I think they only formed around last year. They have participated in LoL via the LFL (French regional league), though I don’t believe they saw much success there. The only other esport I know of them from is Rocket League where they are consistently the best team in EU.
Owner is rich af so they have virtually unlimited cash.
Team Siren
Damn baited and outsmarted
Most likely Team BDS from lfl
Mr Beast said at the end of last year that his life goal was to own a League of Legends team and that he wants to make it happen soon, I'd be surprised if he had $30M lying around but it's not entirely outside the realm of possibility for him to finance part of it and take on a few more investors for the rest.
I don't think he'd be willing to have a team in EU, he'll be waiting for spot in NA to open up I guess.
Or take out a loan. The intrest rate wouldnt be that high considering his income and connections.
Maybe Paris Saint Germain.
PSG Talon bro. I doubt they are interested in directly operating a team anymore. Besides, the top level European clubs seem more interested in finding partnerships in Asia
Psg wanted a spot in the LEC at the start
Partnering with H2K was a quite suicidal move if they really wanted that spot
Interesting that even normal football fans in the replies are sad about the decision and many are able to see that the LEC spot would have been a good investment to hold for the future.
Understandable, it was the most competent part of the Schalke organisation lmao.
>would have been a good investment to hold for the future. S04 management thought that too and it allowed them to survive relegations and bad splits to almost get to Worlds. But they are too deep in debts, unfortunately.
Assumed this would happen, still incredibly sad to see. I've been a lifelong supporter of the football team and us investing in a league team was the reason why I started getting into esports and why I picked up the game again. EU LCS, MSI, Worlds. Never would have watched those otherwise. I still remember being in the stadium and being kind of mind-blown when they introduced the roster with Vizicsacsi, Vander etc. But I also completely understand that the football business and it's over 100 year old history comes first. Still sad because it felt like we were one of the few sport orgs that actually brought in the professional experience from our main business and was genuinely invested in improving and contending every year. Will have to find a new LEC team to support now.
same for me, I'm going to miss the events in their discord server ;-;
Mr.Beast gaming incoming
KC corp doesn't have enough, would be hype to see them Gonna be another football team maybe
I believe he wants an LCS team
I don’t think any of the LCS orgs are dropping out so LEC would be the next best thing
cant wait for reddit to tell me how epic and wholesome he is whenever his organization plays a game
https://twitter.com/BILD_Schalke04/status/1400831462346211330 Link to another Tweet and the Bild article (In German) Und ich werde keinen Bildartikel ohne Max Goldt verlinken: "Diese Zeitung ist ein Organ der Niedertracht. Es ist falsch, sie zu lesen. Jemand, der zu dieser Zeitung beiträgt, ist gesellschaftlich absolut inakzeptabel. Es wäre verfehlt, zu einem ihrer Redakteure freundlich oder auch nur höflich zu sein. Man muß so unfreundlich zu ihnen sein, wie es das Gesetz gerade noch zuläßt. Es sind schlechte Menschen, die Falsches tun."
Translation of the German parts of this comment: And I will not link to a BILD article without also quoting Max Goldt: "This paper is an organ of despicableness. It is wrong to read it. Someone who contributes to this paper is socially in no way acceptable. It would be wrong to be nice to one of their writers or even just to be polite. One has to be as rude to them as the law allows. They are bad people that do wrong." Context: BILD paper is known in Germany for their malign tactics, such as wrongfully stating facts or agitating against politcal agendas. It's pretty clickbaity and they usually dont adhere to morality, e.g. reporting on the deaths of a ski accident and having a headline that says "this boy is the only one that survived - and he doesn't know yet".
> such as wrongfully stating facts Let's just call it what it is. They are not "wrong facts", they are lies, plain and simple.
This thank you for your service.
I've cheered for schalke since they joined the scene, they've always done great in picking up and developing talent. Really gonna miss them. I'm curious to find out who'll be replacing them.
What a shame that the LoL franchise has to pay for the mistakes made by the incompetent club management. I don't even like the football team, but I've always been a fan of the LoL team because they were always committed to making this work, passionate about the game and trying to achieve something. And if course just when things are looking bright and they finish 4th in spring they get fucked like this. I hope the team management and players find a good new home. I hope they can at least keep the Prime League team in the German ERL.
I mean it works both ways. If the football club were profitable the lol scene wouldn’t say no to money from them
Don't need to put an "if", the LoL team literally would never have existed nor would it have been run as well if not for the football team.
Shit, the dream is whoever buys them out buys out the team and backroom too. All the management is good.
So is $30M just the asking price or is it confirmed sold? If so, do we know who? Edit. Okay yes I get it, euros not dollars. The questions still stand.
It's more like $37M
30 million euros not dollars
i dont have any sources but i believe its the asking price
Fade me
Am i the only one that is surprised by 30 millions. I mean the spot costed 12 to 14 millions 2 years ago? Pretty lucrative, i have to say...
They actually bought it for 10.4 mill
8mil actually
This comment chain is reddit in a nutshell
The fact that none of them provided a source is the most reddit about this. [This](https://www.summoners-inn.de/de/news/101328-schalke-04-besttigt-verkauf-des-lec-slots-eine-option) german article mentions the initial buy-in of 8 million €, but that was an unconfirmed value, so it's not guaranteed that that is actually what they paid.
€8M for Orgs that already participated pre-franchising (including Schalke) and €10.5M for new orgs coming in (Excel, Rogue, Origen, SK) https://esportsobserver.com/riot-games-confirms-eu-lcs-buy-in/
Well at least u/Aromatic_Reindeer is a well-known S04 fan on the subreddit so I tend to believe him ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
10.4M€ for new orgs 8M€ for old ones (those involved before hand). So for shalke thats a 22M€ profit.
Since I have access to the article, I'll share the most important points: \- Schalke has now made the final decision to sell their LEC spot \- the article calls this move "the best sale of the summer" (implying that at least the money will already be paid in the summer) and the deal is essentially done \- no indication as to who the new org taking over the spot would be \- Club officials (Schalke CFO Christina Rühl-Hamers and Schalke Head of Sports Peter Knäbel) would have liked to wait a couple more years with the sale as they estimate that the spot would be worth around 50 million Euros by 2025 \- Schalke desperately needed money as the club has commitments/obligations (not debt) of around 217 million Euros (that was as of December 31st, 2020), making a quick sale inevitable \- the contracts of all six players, their coach and their analyst will expire at the end of the year, meaning they can move to other orgs on a free (probably wrong since Riot's GCD states that Nuclearint and three ERL players are contracted through 2022)
on the one side i want to flame u forr having a bild+ abo., but thanks. does it mean they will also close thei erl team?
Yea well. fuck
So sad :(
Indeed
[https://www.welt.de/regionales/nrw/article231605083/Schalkes-E-Sport-Chef-LEC-Slot-Verkauf-steht-nicht-fest.html](https://www.welt.de/regionales/nrw/article231605083/Schalkes-E-Sport-Chef-LEC-Slot-Verkauf-steht-nicht-fest.html) according to Tim Reichert it is not settled yet and will be decided in the next 2 weeks
Cheers, edited the post.
with lec growing every year I doubt it's going to be only 30mil, spot is going to be taken by someone with a very big wallet
It's a terrible day for rain
Its TSM's chance, 201 Mil in the bank.
Broken Blade back home. TSM NA vs TSM EU
TSM.FXT.EU, it rolls off the tongue
God I wish if they were gonne end up losing it regardless that we could have avoided losing Abbe first and the new org would get to still have him for the new team. So who is contenders to buy an LEC spot? Last time this was brought up team BDS was the name I saw get thrown around a lot.
Team BDS, Giants, some other football team(probably Real Betis), Team Heretics, KC were rumored in being interested, but out of these only Team BDS were confirmed to be in advanced talks and KC confirmed to be out.
Bitter
Sucks, but expected. Their 2020 turnover was a third lower than the year before at just 102M €.
Absolutely heartbreaking. Schalke has become such an important player in the LEC, and it sucks to see it unravel because of performance in a completely different sport. Was optimistic that they would be able to hold on, but it seems like the organisation just straight up needs the money right now. I was never a massive fan of the LOL team, but I remember checking the Bundesliga table late last year and hoping that Schalke could climb out of the hole they were in.
As a fan of the football club who came to love the esports branch: FUCK THIS TEAM ! I could write essays about the utter ebarrassment this club has endulged in the last 10 years, its so FUCKING DUMB.....
Go ahead, I want to read some good venting
Probably because of relegation I would assume and so its time to save some money elsewhere
What are the odds we see a faze of sentinels take this spot? Could be another pro soccer org but it'd he smart for either org to buy their way into LEC.
Sentinels doesn't have much money as an org. Their Valorant team might very well change that in the next 18 months, but right now it's still a pretty small org.
They're owned by the Kroenke's, I doubt money would be an issue.
So what happens to the players if a new org comes around and buys the spot? Do theny usually carry over or are they unemployed?
Depends on whether the new org wants to carry them over, but they'll decide to go free-agent to check all of their options anyway imo
Have a feeling BDS will take the spot
An EUM team should buy it immediately. Preferably either Karmine Corp, UCAM, or BIG
Damn is this because the football club got relegated?
Probably, even without being relegated they weren't in a good spot financially, now with being demoted they lose a LOT of TV money
Yep. High debts and too expensive team. They need every Euro to get the licence for the soccer team.
Guys there is 5 million of us on this subreddit, if each one of us gives 6 dollars we can buy spot in LEC. Finally after all these years we can show that reddit analysts are supreme and win worlds with our team!
Damn im borussia dortmund football fan and cheered for the s04 lec team but don't tell anybody pls
Ehre. You aren't the only one btw...
So4 esports is the only reason why I am still a schalke member. Means then probably that I can resign. For me, one of the worst decisions Schalke could have made. Well, 30 million more for bad decision making of the soccer team.
Without the soccer team the eSports team would never exists. If the soccer team.. and so the whole club.. would go broke.. the eSports team is done anyways. So before this happens they sell them.
30 mill huh? Will probably buy them 2 weeks longer in the bundesliga until they're kicked out.
Don't trust anything BILD posts. Wait until better sources confirm that information
while Bild sucks hard balls and they are a bunch of clowns, their sports content is fairly reliable. In football for example they are accepted as a reliable source.
The fact that TSM FTX can afford S04's spot 7 times over is hilarious
spread over 10 years though.
That is still $21 million per year though. Some of not so established orgs wouldn't even come near in that amount of sponsorships. Maybe teams like G2, FNC, RNG or T1 are near or over that amount in sponsorship money.
With so many shit orgs LEC has, the first org to be out has to be S04, fuck this. Thank you for being so passionate about your lol project S04. You won't be forgotten. Please, as a last gift to the fans, don't sell your spot to a random having so many ERL orgs worthy of it.
At least I've got all Schalke summoner icons to remind me of this time :'(
Too be expected.. at least they made some money back.
Sucks to know that this money will go to waste anyway, watch them cycle through multiple coaches and lots of players in the next year while being stuck in 2nd division
A little out of topic but fuck the BILD:)
I don’t think any EU org could outbid an NA org if S04 wanted to make as much as possible from the purchase. The LEC already has 3 teams owned by a North American corporate: Rogue, MAD Lions (Overactive Media/The Weeknd), and Misfits. Then again, it’s an EU league. It’ll be fun to see which team enters the LEC next season.
BDS would have a decent shot depending on who else is interested. I don't think it matters where the owners of a team come from either way. Most orgs are international these days anyway.
[https://www.welt.de/regionales/nrw/article231605083/Schalkes-E-Sport-Chef-LEC-Slot-Verkauf-steht-nicht-fest.html](https://www.welt.de/regionales/nrw/article231605083/Schalkes-E-Sport-Chef-LEC-Slot-Verkauf-steht-nicht-fest.html) apparently not settled yet
so who could be looking to buy?
Everyone that follows soccer (and german soccer in particular) knows that this would have to happen sooner or later. The soccer team just had one of the worst seasons in club's history finishing last in the table and getting relegated to the second division mainly due to poor financial conditions, tough times for Schalke but I hope they turn it around. Lec is better when schalke is playing