Arthur Mola/Associated Press
- Echo Fox will forfeit its position as one of 10 franchises in the League Championship Series (LCS) amid claims of racism.
- The LCS is the professional league for the popular computer game "League of Legends," and franchise slots have recently sold for between $35 and $45 million.
- A deal to sell Echo Fox to Kroenke Entertainment and Sports Group fell through after a tentative agreement, leading the LCS to open an application process to replace Echo Fox.
- Despite the controversy, Echo Fox will receive the bulk of the revenue from the sale of its franchise slot.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Echo Fox, one of 10 franchises in one of the world’s most popular esports leagues, will forfeit its place in Riot Games’ League Championship Series amid ongoing controversy and accusations of racism within the Echo Fox’s ownership.
In 2017, Echo Fox paid $10 million to become one of the first franchises in the League Championship Series (LCS), North America’s professional league for the computer game "League of Legends." Now, the LCS is holding an open bidding process to find a new long-term partner to replace Echo Fox after a $30 million deal to purchase the franchise slot fell through in early August.
Echo Fox was established in 2015 when actor and former NBA player Rick Fox and business partners Amit Raizada and Stratton Sclavos acquired Gravity, an existing esports organization competing in the LCS. The team rebranded as Echo Fox and Fox used his celebrity status to help promote the team for several years.
However, in April 2019, Fox publicly criticized Raizada for allegedly using a racial slur in an text message referring to Echo Fox CEO Jace Hall. Fox first said he intended to sell his stake in the team and move on, but later said he would remain with Echo Fox if Raizada was removed from the ownership group.
Rick Fox, Jace Hall, and Amit Raizada did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
Here’s how the Echo Fox situation has played out over the past few months.
"League of Legends" is one of the most popular games in the world, and the League Championship Series organizes professional competitions in North America.
Artubr/Flickr
The LCS is a North American esports league run by Riot Games, the creator of "League of Legends." "League of Legends" has more than 10 million players worldwide and an active competitive circuit. In addition to the LCS, "League of Legends" has professional leagues in China, Korea, Europe, and East Asia.
The LCS adopted a franchise model in 2017 and 10 teams paid $10 million to participate in 2018 LCS season. Franchised teams are entitled to a 32.5% share of the league’s revenue, while players are entitled to 35% of the revenue. Additionally, the minimum player salary increased from $25,000 to $75,000.
After investigating the Echo Fox situation, LCS Commissioner Chris Greeley announced that the team would be given a 60-day mediation period to remove anyone who had violated the league’s policy on hate speech beginning May 15.
Echo Fox reportedly reached a $30 million deal to sell its LCS spot to Kroenke Sports and Entertainment. But the deal fell through after Kroenke was sued by another esports organization.
Overwatch League
Despite being given 60 days to remove anyone found to have had violated the company’s hate speech policies from the team’s ownership group, Echo Fox was unable to reach an internal resolution.
In July, Rick Fox said that Echo Fox had reached an agreement with Kroenke Sports and Entertainment to sell their spot in the LCS for $30.25 million, more than three times the original LCS buy-in fee. Riot offered Echo Fox a one-week extension on the 60-day mediation period to complete the deal, but it ultimately fell through one week after being reported by ESPN.
Shortly after ESPN reported Kroenke’s deal with Echo Fox, a Kroenke business partner working in another franchised esports league, the Overwatch League, filed a lawsuit against Kroenke. The plaintiff in the case is Robert Moore, the CEO of a separate esports entity named Sentinels that operates Kroenke’s Overwatch League team, the Los Angeles Gladiators.
Moore’s lawsuit claimed that Kroenke had failed to cover expenses for the Gladiators and had not informed Sentinels about the Echo Fox acquisition before agreeing to a deal. According to ESPN, Moore wants a majority stake in the Gladiators and repayment for the unpaid expenses.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- 9 visionary predictions tech execs like Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs made before 2000 that came true
- A mini version of the classic Sega Genesis is almost here, but we got it a month early — take a look
- Google’s upcoming Pixel 4 smartphone is rumored to have a new camera feature that should make your pictures better, but the change is actually a terrible idea
Source: Business Insider – kwebb@businessinsider.com (Kevin Webb)