The LEC announced a partnership with NEOM, a futuristic city being built by the Saudi Arabian government. Casters and fans are upset by this decision, as the Saudi Arabian government’s values completely oppose that of the LEC’s personalities.
The LEC states that the reason for this partnership is “to help future-proof the LEC stage, they’ll be sponsoring the Oracle Lens during live broadcasts which helps players predict the next moves a team will make.” The anger and backlash from this sponsorship stem from the human rights violations resulting from both the building of the city and the Saudi Arabian government itself. At least 20,000 members from the Huwaitat tribe are being evicted from land that they have lived on since before the founding of the Saudi state. Abdul Rahim al-Huawaiti became popular in the area for criticizing the project. He was shot and killed in his home by Saudi officers. Trevor ‘Quickshot” Henry’s only response to the partnership is retweeting an article by The Guardian detailing the atrocity.
The partnership with a project openly sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government contradicts the LEC’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights. The LEC and its personalities have been very supportive of LGBTQ+ community. Caster Indiana ‘Froskurinn’ Black says she is “let down by the LEC today”.
Froskurinn, an openly gay caster, has been a pioneer in esports, bringing needed diversity and perspective to a previously male-dominated industry. Sjokz, Vedius, Medic, and the entire broadcast crew also made statements, showing their anger and disappointment of the partnership. Daniel Drakos, another caster, states, “There have been many good days to be a member of the #LEC team, today is not one of those days.”
The fact that the entire broadcast team expressed their anger is reassuring. Riot absolutely can not fire the entire team, especially after fans continue to express their love towards the LEC broadcast and specifically the personalities involved. Clearly, the team that puts LEC together every week does not want this partnership to continue. The question now asked is, how long will this partnership last? If both fans and Riot employees are upset with the partnership, can Riot manage to sweep this under the rug and hope everyone forgets this?
Riot may not want to, or may not be able to, break ties with NEOM. However, they may lose the people involved in creating arguably the highest quality broadcast in professional League of Legends.
Sources: The Guardian, Twitter
