The esports organization 100 Thieves have announced that it sold its LCS franchising slot back to Riot Games, but will still compete in LoL esports thanks to a technicality.
It had long been rumored that 100 Thieves was leaving the North American League of Legends circuit, and as the LoL Americas announcement has hit, it seems that the org is on its way out after an unfortunate Worlds 2024 run. However, despite bowing out with a check, the iconic jerseys will still appear on stream. 100 Thieves has been demoted to the unique designation of “provisional guest team” and will continue to participate in the NA pro circuit through 2025. In the meantime, Riot Games will reevaluate what to do with the spare franchising slot.
Here’s details on the sale and why 100 Thieves is still competing while not having the rights to.
100 Thieves sold its LCS slot back to Riot, but will still compete in the new League of the Americas circuit thanks to a special exemption.
In an unprecedented move, 100 Thieves will be the first team to sell its franchising slot in the LCS and still remain as a team in the league. In the immediate time prefacing Riot Games’ announcement detailing the new North American professional circuit, the League of The Americas, or LTA, on October 31, 100 Thieves announced that it had sold its franchising slot. However, the team would remain as participants in the LTA despite not owning a slot, instead grandfathered in for at least 2025
The team announced via social media that while the organization had sold its slot, Riot Games had decided to purchase the slot for itself and re-invite the org to participate in 2025 LoL Esports. According to 100 Thieves, nothing will change operationally for the League of Legends side during 2025, but the future beyond that is uncertain.
The guest team slot is brand new to League of Legends esports, and Riot doesn’t have firm plans on what it wants to do with the slot. 100 Thieves is said to have sold the slot for operational reasons, likely buffering its budget with a substantial payout from the LoL developer.
Riot will be able to sell the franchising slot to another prospective franchisee, but plans to see out 2025 with 100 Thieves in the slot.
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