One of the most important esports teams in the USA is 100 Thieves. They were even able to surprisingly become champions in the LCS in League of Legends in 2021. But now they’re stuck in a PR nightmare after one of their managers was a little too terse about the team’s future in LoL.
This is the situation: In the USA the league is being reorganized into LoL. The US league LCS will no longer exist in 2025, but a new league will be created that will also include teams in South America.
The 100 Thieves have a special role in this league: They will compete in 2025, but only have a “provisional guest spot.”
This is all very vague, but in a statement from Riot it sounded as if 100 Thieves would only be in the league for one year and then exit LoL esports. The slot has probably already been sold back to Riot and the 100 Thieves are just borrowing the slot for 2025.
League of Legends is abolishing the LCS!
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Manager talks his head off
This statement now got them in trouble: The whole situation was communicated unclearly, 100 Thieves remained silent on the subject, only the report from Riot Games was in the room. The team’s fans now wanted clear answers. Now on the team’s subreddit, Vice President of Esports Maelk spoke to fans in a Q&A session to clear things up, and it couldn’t have gone worse:
I think if you focus on LoL, and only LoL, and your priority is to dedicate your time and energy as a fan to a team that has the highest probability of being associated with League of Legends for life, then I would recommend you to put your trust in C9 and Team Liquid.
We are so much more as a brand than just a single title and I think most fans are missing out by just rallying behind one game.
How is this commented?? Basically, this is a LoL team telling LoL fans that 100 Thieves is much bigger than LoL itself. And the fans would have to see what other cool things the team is doing.
That’s a bit like FC Bayern saying they’re getting out of football, but they still offer ice hockey and basketball. Football fans could watch this too, otherwise they would miss it.
If you’re really into this football thing, you could become a fan of Dortmund or Leverkusen.
This was the reaction: Angry comments then popped up on Twitter and Reddit, outraged by the lack of “commitment to e-sports” and annoyed by the statement.
A mega fan of 100 Thieves thanked us for the biggest “fuck you” in the face (via x).
100 Thieves does damage control
What happened next? Maelk has since apologized for his answer. He had blinders on. He grew up with football in Europe, takes fan culture very seriously and would never push a fan aside like that.
Other 100 Thieves executives hastened to add that nothing had been decided yet. One could also imagine continuing to play in League of Legends in 2026. It is hoped that Riot Games will find a long-term solution.
In the last few weeks, 100 Thieves has put a lot of pressure on its fans in terms of sport. 100 Thieves was able to qualify for Worlds 2024, but their performance there wasn’t exactly convincing: LoL: World Championship claims its first victim in Berlin and reddit is merciless to young US professionals