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NA and Franchising.

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#1
Wronghand

I was thinking a ton about NA franchising today and I had a few thoughts I wanted to share. To preface, I've seen a lot of whispers and a couple pro opinions that have led me down this path.

The NA 8
I'm calling it that because I've heard that the America's division will have 8 NA teams then the rest is LATAM and Brazil. At this point, we as fans have very little news on teams that are favorable in Riot's eyes, but I've got a few personal Ideas based on who Riot rejected already. First off, I'm surprised by Shopify Rebellion's early out since they had big into the gamechangers aspect. It was crazy how effort in Gamechangers was not even a real factor, simply based on how early of an exit they had. Secondly, it's basically a given that any tier 2 level squad was not given serious thought, like Akrew, NYFU, and Complexity.

At this point I'd like to (possibly) jinx some teams by listing them as 'locks' for franchising. They are :
Sentinels (110%)
OpTic (99%)
100 Thieves (95%)
Cloud 9 (93%)

I'm going to stick to these 4 for a few reasons. C9 and OpTic are more so historical teams that have a legacy before Valorant on their side. They also hold huge legacy's inside of Valorant, one as NA's last hope and the other as NA's current hope. 100T have shown an unapparelled commitment to Valorant, has represented the region globally, and is currently one of (if not) the largest growing gaming organization. Then Sentinels bring in more views than any other team. They won the first international lan. They have the largest game wide meme associated with them. They have the thicccccest trio of players in Rawkass, Shroud, and Zellsis. THEY HAVE FUCKING SHROUD. I know he's leaving afterwards, but it still stands. To be honest, idk who the other 8 will be. But I want to move on to another thing with NA franchising that I realized more after a Yay clip.

"The Largest region into 8 teams"
NA is the largest region in terms of commitment to building talent, and now all those teams and players with so much talent are fighting for 40 player slots. This occurred to me today when thinking of Gen.G. They haven't gotten out of Val yet, but they are letting their roster go. the first thought is "of course, they're going out of Val now" but my second thought was this : What if they are preparing to build a brand new roster out of those let-go talents? Then Yay also kinda talked about this with how all those talents were being pushed into these tiny amount of real slots. Like, top tier rosters like Guard or Ghost may not make the cut. That's a working team that you can grab and go with.

Franchising Itself
Of course, not all teams will make it, and the large NA tier 2 scene will die with it. So, next is two ideas from myself to keep the NA scene alive. This mostly comes out of problems I don't want in the future for Valorant in NA. First is a real Academy league. Not International, but just a region wide academy league to run alongside the real league. with there being (I believe) 15 slots for all of NA, Brazil, and LATAM, that might create a problem with scrimming. Adding an extra 15 teams to the pool will allow much more scrim opportunities. Just as a base, not all teams have the same scrim hours so that alone closes off some available scrims. Adding an extra 15 teams gives more flexibility of hours and more availability during buy hours. then with the academy teams as well, that's an extra 75 slots to play with as an up-and-coming talent. The reason I'd like this to be a riot funded league is to both incentivize proper funding and development of these Academy teams, along with the monetary aspect of making a team able to afford having another team. This academy level would be different and allow 14 and up rather than the 16 and up in other Riot tournaments, simply due to being more focused on a largespread encouragement of talent rather than being the best team in the world.

Second is a more basic one of more third-party tournaments - which I think Riot has already committed to? Things like the Knights or Nerd Street tournaments. But, what I would like those franchised teams to themselves hold tournaments. Even if it's like a combo tournament held by 2 franchised teams, I feel like this is an easy and good way to continue to encourage a healthy tier 2 scene. Like, that'd be at least an extra 6-12 tournaments for teams to play in.

That's really it. I don't have really much to add, I just wanted to put out some thoughts on how franchising would be in my mind and how Riot can keep a healthy NA scene. I'm much MUCH more concerned about keeping APAC healthy. Like, DRX and PRX cant even play together. That region is so much more spread than the rest. Anyways, have a great rest of your day if you read this far.

#2
OriGinalgamerSWEAT
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Touch grass

#3
OriGinalgamerSWEAT
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W post

#4
plas
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73.6% of all statistics are made up

#5
number1_ScreaM_fan
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plas [#4]

73.6% of all statistics are made up

correction 100% of all stats are made up

#6
Mjtchell
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Both 100T and Cloud9 have way more of a chance than Sentinels.
Although all 3 will get franchising.
100T and C9 both have very good LoL teams, and they've been monumental to Valorant
100T and C9 are also way bigger brands as well.
Obviously Sentinels have pull when it comes to the names inside the team, but imo Valorant franchising will have way more to do with the connections they have to Riot
Plus Shroud said he's only filling for LCQ and possibly after that depending if they qualify. He's not staying.
Honestly at this point I think even TSM has a higher chance than Sentinels
Also GenG will probably go to Korea like they have with LoL

#7
EU_quiet
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TSM have higher chance than C9

#8
Neonfreak
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Good post. I still have hope that Riot will provide some support (host tournaments maybe) for the Tier 2 scene to keep it alive so that there is some sort of pipeline for up and coming players/teams to reach the big stage. Otherwise imo, it will get a bit old to see the same teams playing each other and not have any underdog cinderella story teams in the scene.

#9
MerkFreeks
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I've heard recently that all franchise leagues will be 12 teams
I can see it being like a 8-2-2 or a 6-4-2 setup for NA, BR, LATAM
The statistics you have are made up but its safe to say that orgs like
C9, TGRD, 100T, Optic, SEN, and NRG would be at the very least the main 6 teams for NA in franchising, if theres 8 I'd say throw any team from XSET, EG, FaZe, V1 in there.

An academy league or some sort of structured T2 like a VRL would be perfect for franchising ngl. Even bringing in some sort of promo/releg system I think could work out well.

#10
Mjtchell
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MerkFreeks [#9]

I've heard recently that all franchise leagues will be 12 teams
I can see it being like a 8-2-2 or a 6-4-2 setup for NA, BR, LATAM
The statistics you have are made up but its safe to say that orgs like
C9, TGRD, 100T, Optic, SEN, and NRG would be at the very least the main 6 teams for NA in franchising, if theres 8 I'd say throw any team from XSET, EG, FaZe, V1 in there.

An academy league or some sort of structured T2 like a VRL would be perfect for franchising ngl. Even bringing in some sort of promo/releg system I think could work out well.

FaZe and EG are both above NRG and TGRD imo

#11
Rishoo
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Mjtchell [#6]

Both 100T and Cloud9 have way more of a chance than Sentinels.
Although all 3 will get franchising.
100T and C9 both have very good LoL teams, and they've been monumental to Valorant
100T and C9 are also way bigger brands as well.
Obviously Sentinels have pull when it comes to the names inside the team, but imo Valorant franchising will have way more to do with the connections they have to Riot
Plus Shroud said he's only filling for LCQ and possibly after that depending if they qualify. He's not staying.
Honestly at this point I think even TSM has a higher chance than Sentinels
Also GenG will probably go to Korea like they have with LoL

Nah he said if Sen get into franchising and the league is held in LA he would be pursuing pro Valorant. Said it on stream

#12
HECCIN_LOVE_TENZ
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please dont tell me you thought someone would actually spend their time reading this

#13
MerkFreeks
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Mjtchell [#10]

FaZe and EG are both above NRG and TGRD imo

in terms of org financials though, NRG and TGRD have better backing

NRG and TGRD both have huge financial backers and while their teams in valo haven't been amazing. Buying a new/better roster isnt out of the question.

FaZe despite going public I've heard have been rocky in the financial department and allegedly almost dropped their valo roster.
EG definitely would be another easy favorite to make it in

SR were already confirmed out so basically any of the LCQ teams have a real shot alongside optic to be in franchising.

#14
quaytavious
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Mjtchell [#10]

FaZe and EG are both above NRG and TGRD imo

sorry to say it but faze are not making franchising unless a billion dollars fall from the sky into their hq

#15
Mjtchell
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MerkFreeks [#13]

in terms of org financials though, NRG and TGRD have better backing

NRG and TGRD both have huge financial backers and while their teams in valo haven't been amazing. Buying a new/better roster isnt out of the question.

FaZe despite going public I've heard have been rocky in the financial department and allegedly almost dropped their valo roster.
EG definitely would be another easy favorite to make it in

SR were already confirmed out so basically any of the LCQ teams have a real shot alongside optic to be in franchising.

See Imo I think FaZe have a lot of pull with CS being so similar to Valorant and FaZe being on top in CS
I know its a stretch but I really don't see NRG getting franchised as they haven't really made any connection with riot
EG is still over TGRD and NRG though as they have a very successful LoL team. They're definitely more about which org is going to make them happier in the long run and I believe FaZe and EG have the power to do so.

#16
Mjtchell
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Rishoo [#11]

Nah he said if Sen get into franchising and the league is held in LA he would be pursuing pro Valorant. Said it on stream

Idk Shroud has made it clear very many times in the past that he doesn't have the motivation to compete anymore.
That's such a specific scenario that it shows he's picky and wants to continue how he has been.
I just think he's complacent in how he is right now and picking up for LCQ kinda seems like him picking up a hobby.
That's why things like TwitchRivals are so perfect for him because he can compete in spurts to get the itch out and still live a relaxed lifestyle.
It's not that I don't believes he wants to right now. It's just I don't see that want staying consistent

#17
Eag1e
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W post. good read!

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