저자: 미상 · 외국인
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TSM이 FTX 후원계약(2.1억 달러) 붕괴 이후 재정난으로 여러 e스포츠 종목 활동을 중단하고 LCS 자리 매각을 검토한다는 보도(Sports Business Journal)를 소개. 구단은 공식 확인·부인 없이 Reggie가 모호한 입장만 밝힌 상태이며, 영상은 구단 재정과 e스포츠 산업 수익 구조 문제를 짚는다.
다듬은 글
late last week reports emerged that TSM is considering the halting of a number of its Esports operations this allegedly comes after a year of financial struggles amid the collapse of a 210 million dollar partnership with the now defunct and disgrace crypto exchange giant FTX and for League fans in particular the most shocking part of this report is that after a decade of being there TSM could be selling its LCS spot all right so it's quite a crazy time in Esports right now and one day your grandkids will ask you what was it like to live through it so I'd recommend subscribing to the channel so you don't miss out on any information and you don't let them down do you remember what you were doing in the summer of 2017 well for tsm's League of Legends team they were doing something they did a lot of over the years in the LCS winning the team had just won their third LCS title in a row their sixth overall and we're indisputably North America's most dominant team for tsm's LCS fans this was their Golden Era fast forward to last week and the situation couldn't really be further from that a report from the sports Business Journal stated that according to sources TSM are pausing their Esports efforts in several titles and may even be selling its LCS slot for good so to use a phrase that has undoubtedly crossed the lips of many TSM fans over the last few days what the happened well let's start with FTX in June 2021 on TSM signed a deal with cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX worth a reported 210 million dollars over 10 years part of the deal involved TSM changing their name to TSM FTX despite right announcing they would not be able to use that name in League of Legends or valorin but that decade-long deal lasted barely over a year FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 they cited numerous corporate missteps While others accused them of misusing customer funds that amounted to fraud which eventually led to the arrest of CEO Sam bangman freed TSM announced the suspension of their partnership with FTX but made clear that would not affect their operating plan they added they were a strong profitable and stable orb that was forecasting profitability for the coming years last week's report from Sports Business Journal painted a different picture though they claimed their sources said that TSM took a big Financial hit when FTX and their deal went up in Flames it was around this time TSM announced the departure of their LCS Academy roster which sparked fears among fans that a full-scale withdrawal from the scene was around the corner on TSM subreddit CEO Reggie implored fans to be patient and said they could expect news on the org doubling down on league in January 2023.
January rolled around though and Reggie pushed that announcement to March but when March arrived Reggie's big news did not TSM fans were instead met with a quote from tsm's head LCS coach Charlie claiming the team had the lowest budget in the league all of this sounded like the exact opposite of the doubling down on League that Reggie had alluded to on March 23rd he commented on TSM subreddit saying we over hired and expanded too quickly with the economic downturn we made the necessary changes to be sustainable this was not easy our current team is stronger and more performant we don't see negative effects with the changes that we've made TSM was not headed in the right direction I am taking a more Hands-On role in fact we put the right decision makers in place to be more successful long term update we're in the process of figuring multiple things out and will not be able to make any sort of announcement until everything is final and complete expect a minimum of four to five months I'll make a post later on why we decided to invest less into the LCS this season and it may have technically been an answer of sorts albeit very brief and vague but it wasn't received well by TSM fans you have to remember this comes after years of sliding LCS results but the team has gone from title contenders to missing playoffs altogether the fans wanted open communication and answers from TSM but many felt that Reggie had not only kicked the can further down the road he'd actually gone back on what he previously said now to play devil's advocate here for a second there may be an economically sound argument behind TSM pulling back from the LCS if it's true we see Esports orgs across all titles on all leagues pulling their purse strings tighter at the moment they're reassessing how to monetize their brands in a scene that is rapidly running out of speculative investment it feels like the bubble is either bursting or burst player salaries and operational costs massively outstrip money coming in from traditional Esports revenue and investors just aren't there to cover up those cracks it feels like every week at the moment we hear about another org laying off staff or dropping teams entirely in favor of alternative revenue streams for TSM one of those streams was FDX with hindsight it might be easy to look back on that deal now after fdx's CEO is up to his neck in federal charges and say it was a bad move and even at the time many within Esports were scratching their heads at the 210 million dollar deal the two companies had signed but regardless of that it's a prime example of a nog trying to tap into other revenue streams to stay afloat because as I'm sure many of you know it's extremely difficult to survive never mind Thrive as an Esports or if you're not reaching out beyond what the average fan sees last year Reggie himself said that TSM are only profitable because of their software businesses websites and streaming network not Esports one of those software businesses is Blitz the gaming Performance Tool which the recent Sports Business Journal report alleges TSM will be shifting their focus to as they hit the pause button in a number of different Esports now that report does paint a link between that decision and the FDX deal collapse and this does seem to somewhat contradict the comment from last November in which Reggie had said the org was profitable even without FTX but in that recent Reddit post we mentioned earlier he also acknowledged they had had to make changes to stay sustainable so is the orc actually profitable is it sustainable is the collapse of the FDX deal responsible for their alleged withdrawal from different Esports including League only Reggie and TSM can answer that but we've had nothing concrete to go on and the little information we have had either seems to contradict previous statements that Reggie and TSM has made or this new report as for the validity of the report itself TSM has neither confirmed nor denied it however last Saturday Reggie did say on Twitter that quote TSM is committed to Esports we're planning to enter CS go sometime later this year which is a larger investment than all of the games we've left combined TSM is always evaluating what Esports ecosystems are best to invest in and will continue to enter and exit games that whole entering and exiting games comment could be used to support this recent report and Travis Gafford recently reported that A source told him that TSM had already approached its players with an ultimatum well the the First Source I I heard said that they had approached their players and basically given them something like 24 hours to accept a minimum salary this is is their LCS team so perhaps it's not a case of TSM selling their LCS but it may simply be a budgetary downscaling but it's mostly guesswork without an official statement and to be honest Reggie's comments have only generated further questions as recently as yesterday he said on Reddit that he couldn't comment further for business slash legal reasons but we'll shed light soon and that they couldn't double down on League because of how things played out fans will also be hoping that ready does an AMA which he previously said was forthcoming after Riot completed their investigation into him the investigation looked into allegations of Reggie's verbal abuse of TSM staff which ultimately saw him being fined and put on probation this big announcement if and when it arrives will undoubtedly need to include solid information about what tsm's future in League of Legends looks like but of course league isn't tsm's only Endeavor in fact in recent years they've seen far more success with other games TSM squads have dominant donated Apex Legends they burst onto the DOTA scene they've had their moments in balaran and who can forget their incredible Rainbow Six Siege Invitational title it seems like some of these teams are safe and yet a big question mark still hangs over their LCS team the team where it all started and if that's the case then perhaps the problem lies partially with the LCS it's no secret that viewership has been on the decline for years and orgs still don't have a sustainable Revenue sharing model with Riot we're not going to dive into that now I do suggest you watch out is Esports dying video for more on that though the point here is this isn't just a TSM problem in fact just as I was writing this news broke the CLG is not only selling their LCS spot but are ceasing to be an Esports organization entirely with mass layoffs expected this week and an official statement coming Thursday so what now well we could sit here and speculate about what an LCS without TSM would look like even if they're in orgs in game Rivals having a big name like TSM is arguably a net plus for any team sharing a league with them but Yamato Cannon doesn't believe that recent reports spell Doom for the LCS he said on Twitter CLG and TSM have achieved legendary status and were an important part of the early years I watched them played against them and looked up to their players times are different now and these organizations don't hold the same stature nor do I think these organizations exiting spells as much Doom as some would like to make it out to be other organizations took their place as the top dogs and if they'd follow in these footsteps then yeah I'd be worried so if they do leave who would take their spot I've seen names like Sentinels thrown about even a Mr Beast team stranger things have happened and what will be happening to tsm's other teams and will they really be entering Counter-Strike now in a big way Reggie has now said that move would be a larger investment than all of their other games combined and it's fair to ask what could be acts from their portfolio to accommodate that investment really all of this speculation rides on one thing that TSM fans have been waiting for months for Now official statements sooner or later TSM and Reggie are going to need to announce their intentions when it comes to League of Legends and their whole Esports operation in general if the decision is to leave the LCS we'll be back to give you all the details and what exactly that would look like thank you
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