Over 150 Teams Apply for VALORANT League Partnership
More than 150 organizations have submitted proposals to Riot Games for a chance to partner with them in the upcoming VALORANT league, according to a reliable source. Only a small number of teams will ultimately secure a partnership out of the initial 200 organizations that expressed interest.
Increased Interest in North American VALORANT League
Interestingly, there were more applications for the North American VALORANT league compared to the 2018 NA LCS, which introduced franchising for League of Legends in North America.
While the NA LCS had a buy-in fee of $10 million for selected teams, the VALORANT league will not require teams to pay millions of dollars to participate. Almost all organizations were allowed to submit applications, although some did not follow through in the early stages.
Competition Details and Applications
The North American, Brazilian, and Latin America franchised league is set to begin early next year with a maximum of 10 teams. However, this number is subject to change.
Several teams, including Sentinels, Cloud9, 100 Thieves, TSM, and G2 Esports, have either made their applications public or submitted them privately. It’s worth noting that teams are not obligated to disclose their applications.
Organizations were also given the option to apply for a secondary region if necessary. For instance, G2 Esports has applied for both the EMEA league and the Americas league.
VALORANT League’s Response and Criticisms
The VALORANT league’s decision to remove the traditional buy-in fee has received both criticism and support. Some worry that the limited number of slots available may prevent them from participating in higher-tier competitions.
The league will inform teams whether they have been accepted in September, around the time of the Champions event.
Correction: This article originally reported that over 150 applications had been submitted specifically for the North American VALORANT league. The correct information is that over 150 applications were submitted globally. We apologize for any confusion caused.
VALORANT League, Riot Games, partnership, North American, franchised league, teams