After a successful partnership in 2018, Riot Games and Battlefy have announced a three-year partnership for the League of Legends College season until 2021.
This new partnership will see both parties invest deeper in the North American college League of Legends scene.
J.T. Vandenbree, League Operations Lead for Riot Games’ NA College program.b2e, had this to say: “Player experience and competitive integrity are essential pillars for making League of Legends a college sport that lasts for generations. Battlefy was a huge factor in our ability to make these pillars a reality in the 2018 College LoL Season, and we’re thrilled to have them on board for the next three seasons.”
Since the end of the 2018 season, Riot Games has made a number of rule and format changes ahead of the 2019 season. Battlefy has also stated it will ‘develop unique features’ over the course of the multi-year partnership to enhance the player and spectator experience.
Carlos Alimurung, Battlefy’s Chief Business Officer, added: “Riot Games’ College League of Legends program is the most established and comprehensive collegiate esports program in the world. It’s a privilege to partner with Riot Games on making it even more successful. The 2018 Season was a great opportunity to prove that Riot Games and Battlefy could execute a great experience for the schools and student athletes. Over the next few years, the experience will only get better.”
The 2018 season was a big success for both parties: 311 schools in 2018 participated, up from 246 schools in 2017. Battlefy also confirmed that in the 2019 season over 80 of the competing teams will be school-supported varsity programs.
Esports Insider says: College level esports are key to the future success of esports. The North American academy LCS season has proven that the NALCS has a lot of growing stars. You only have to look at the success of Cloud9’s academy team on the world stage to pay testament to just that.