Ten Teams. Eight Weeks. The Prize: Passage into the pros.

With the Challenger League kicking off this week, let’s take a look at what this new league means for the future of League of Legends competitive play, and how the new amateur format could change e-sports for the better for viewers and players around the world.

Money Matters

Recently, and especially with the Challenger League, Riot Games has taken an important step forward in financing their tournaments: sercuring Coke Zero as their primary sponsor. By reaching beyond the typical sponsors for e-sports (namely large tech companies) and securing a massive mainstream brand, Riot moves themselves into the foreground of commercial sports.

This is not the first time mainstream sponsors have taken notice of eSports: Adidas partnering with Copenhagen Wolves or Red Bull sponsoring a professional team and regularly running StarCraft 2 tournaments being a couple of the examples. Securing a brand of this caliber to be the main sponsor for their Challenger League could help Riot attract a broader range of sponsors. The tech companies currently sponsoring teams and the League will certainly stay on board, but acquiring new and different sponsors from all over the world should do a great deal to help draw greater visibility to the world of competitive video games.

Bigger companies means more money for tournaments, which, in turn, could lead to increase production values, give the players a better salary or incentive, and most importantly, entice other corporations to support e-sports, possibly even creating tournaments of their own, even further broadening the reach of e-sports.

Most importantly, major companies investing the future of e-sports could turn professional gaming into a more viable job for a wider variety of players for whom it wasn't an option before. Higher prize-pools, better living conditions and financial security are all draws for young players looking to make in the world of gaming, and the Coke-Riot partnership could be the first step in making e-sports into a more attractive profession for players.

A Clear Path

Before the formation of the Challenger League, the path from amateur to professional League player was both unclear and difficult. Tournaments were fragmented and scattered, and the results were not necessarily tangible to both player and viewer. For audiences, it was never clear what impact winning a minor tournament had on the careers of amateur teams, and the minor prize-pools and uncertain schedules of multiple tournaments was certainly a pain on players, some of whom are still in school.

With the advent of the Challenger League, aspiring players have a clear path into the pro league, creating a more inviting, structured option than the multitude of fragmented tournaments. With the Challenger League drawing talent from both the upper echelons of the North American and European 5v5 ladders as well as the LCS teams, the new format will allow both players and fans to better understand the impact of each game and more closely monitor team progress towards the LCS, as well as making Challenger tier matchmaking more impactful and meaningful. Furthermore, a clearly defined amateur scene should create more team stability in the Challenger teams and make a better opportunity for new fans to be born and rally behind promising young teams as they make their bid for the LCS.

Back On Top

For some teams, the Challenger League is not only a tournament, but their shot at redemption. Teams such as Coast (shown left), Complexity and the new Curse are all seeking to re-enter the LCS after dissapointing performances in past seasons. Entering the LCS is the ultimate goal for all the teams involved, but those who are looking at reclaiming their spot will have added motivation, and audiences will be able to cheer their favorite teams back to the top, and hopefully, back into the pros.

Starpower

Last but certainly not least, the Challenger League will allow for star amateur players to be both discovered and celebrated by the community of fans and players. In the current system, popular streamers (most of whom are pros) dominate fan popularity, eclipsing the lesser known talent of the challenger scene. With a separate league all to their own, talented young players should be able to gain notoriety and notice from fans, hopefully bolstering their stream numbers and providing some financial stability. It should also allow pro team to more effectively scout out talent, who can be used as subs or even potential members in the future. The Challenger League is a place for players, not just teams, to make a name for themselves.

The Challenger League has already started this week, but there's lots of action to come running throughout the winter, eventually culminating in the promotion tournament to decide which among the top amateur teams in the world have what it takes to make it in the big league.