Paul Delos Santos is a reporter based in Las Vegas. He covers the Vegas Golden Knights for NHL.com and also covers esports and general Las Vegas sports for The Sporting Tribune. He’s a gamer who never has time to play them, so he naturally opted to write and talk about them instead.
Olivia Richman is a seasoned esports journalist who has worked with Inven Global, Esports Illustrated, Esports.gg, and more. As an editor and writer at Esports Insider, she loves telling unique esports stories, especially within the FGC. When not working and gaming, Olivia loves collecting Kirby plush, eating sushi, and driving her cars at the track.
Image Credit: Stefan Wisnoski / Riot Games The North American Challengers League – North America’s League of Legends Tier 2 system – is in its home stretch.
Six teams remain in the NACL Summer Playoffs, but the prize isn’t merely a trophy. The top two teams qualify for the League Championship Series’ promotion-relegation tournament, set to happen later this year.
The finalists in the NACL Playoffs will join a pair of Liga Regional Norte teams and current LCS guest spot holder Disguised in a five-team event to qualify for North America’s Tier 1 system.
The lure of playing on stage in the LCS is enough to excite Cupid Esports coach Samuel “boc” Boudrie and his players.
“I was in China coaching team for the Asian Games back in 2023, and being up on stage and just in front of people, having that screen, the computer, seeing the other team sitting across from you, like there’s like this electric feeling,” boc said to Esports Insider. “And once you have that, you want more.”
But the question becomes: Is it realistic? Sure, winning the promotion-relegation tournament gets you the spot, but once the trophy is raised and the confetti has fallen, there will come a new challenge.
“It’s not something I suppose that I can wrap my head around right now,” Contingent owner Jose “beardsandcats” Graham said.
Note: For simplicity purposes, this article will only cover teams that can qualify as listed professional organizations. In the case Winthrop or Marysville win or finish second in the NACL, neither team can move into the LCS, as both are collegiate programs and are ineligible for qualification.
Image Credit: Markus Ulmer/FIFA Once a team earns qualification, the clock begins.
Teams in the promotion tournament will be audited to determine whether the organization has the financial resources to play in the LCS.
The LCS and Riot Games require players to be listed as full-time employees of the company, meaning they must be W-2 employees with health insurance benefits. The LCS player minimum is $75,000, which is also the LCS-mandated minimum, but add in all the external benefits, and the number could easily escalate into six digits.
Additionally, boc estimated that teams receive 50% less in their Riot-sponsored stipend than the franchised teams – the other seven teams in the LCS.
A person with knowledge of the finances of what the guest spot entails wouldn’t elaborate on the exact percentage, but said the difference is “significant” and could be more than a million dollars.
Then comes the additional cost of moving a team’s operations to Los Angeles, where most of the year’s games are played. The cost could escalate if they desire a quality setup, which may need to be covered upfront as the stipend comes at specific times of the year.
The same person estimated the start-up cost for a new LCS team at a little more th…