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Closing Bell

Riot Games Awards 10 Slots In League of Legends Championship Series

The Warriors, Rockets Owner Tilman Fertitta, and Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert are among the new owners welcomed into the upper echelon of American esports by Riot Games, winning bids to join the reconstituted North American League of Legends Championship Series starting next year. Riot has announced the 10 winners of long-term slots in the league, which is doing away with relegation/promotion and promising revenue sharing beginning in '18. The winners beat out more than 100 other applicants, sources said, and will each pay $10M to Riot for the privilege. Newcomers are required to pay an additional $3M.

NA LCS TEAMS
INTERESTED PARTIES WITH CONTROLLING STAKES
100 Thieves*
Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert, Courtside Ventures, Ludlow Ventures
Clutch Gaming*
Rockets Owner Tilman Fertitta
Counter Logic Gaming
MSG
FlyQuest
Bucks co-Owner Wes Edens
Golden Guardians*
Warriors
OpTic Gaming*
MLB Rangers co-Owner Neil Leibman via Infinite Esports & Entertainment
Team Liquid
aXiomatic, a group led by Jeff Vinik, Ted Leonsis and Peter Guber
Echo Fox
Cloud9
TSM
CHART NOTE: * = New to the league

To make room for the four new participants, Riot dis-invited four teams that participated in the '17 LCS: Dignitas, owned by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment; Team Envy, who recently welcomed energy industry exec and financier Ken Hersh’s fund as major capital partner; Immortals, whose investors include AEG and Grizzlies co-Exec Chair Steve Kaplan; and Phoenix1. The loss of the LCS spots represent a major hit to the valuation of those organizations, affecting current and future investment talks. They will receive payouts in the low seven figures from Riot.

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SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

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SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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