League of Legends players recognized as pro athletes by US government
Riot Games has announced that the US government now officially recognizes League of Legends players as professional athletes.
League of Legends is one of the biggest e-sports, even securing sports stadiums for its championships. It's still not widely regarded as a "real sport," but that may be changing. The United States government, at least, has decided it qualifies.
GameSpot reports that after lengthy discussions with Riot Games, the US government officially recognizes pro League of Legends players as professional athletes. This isn't merely for show; the status means that LoL players can get work visas in the country, which opens the possibility of recruiting.
"This is groundbreaking for eSports; now we can start looking at international players when they come over. It's a much easier process because they're actually recognized by the government," e-sports manager Nick Allen said. "This is a huge thing."
While this could conceivably open the door to other e-sports, Allen notes that this took a long time and several rounds of discussions and evidence. "This was a lengthy process; we had a lot of people fighting for this," he said. "It wasn't something that happened overnight."
The World Playoffs semi-finals will take place throughout September, which will determine the two teams to take on the Season 3 championship on October 4 in Los Angeles.
-
Shacknews
replySteve Watts posted a new article, League of Legends players recognized as pro athletes by US government.
Riot Games has announced that the US government now officially recognizes League of Legends players as professional athletes.-
When I post it's not news, I see how it is! haha
http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=30480813#item_30480813 -
Wow? This is huge. Would DOTA2 get similar status? I suppose not considering the huge diff. in user base?
-
-
It's specifically League of Legends.
I'm sure Starcraft 2 and DOTA 2 will be able to do the same thing. But why would they want to? They don't have anything comparable to the LCS, so there's no real reason for them to get granted that status.-
LCS? Wouldn't having the status granted increase interest in the young ones for the game and benefit Valve ($$$$) ?
I mean what kid wouldn't want to be a professional gamer!-
-
LCS = League of Legends Championship Series. it's a season of weekly games between professional teams followed by playoffs and then a championship tournament, similar to league play in other sports. this is why riot needed to get a visa for shiphtur -- he needs to live in the united states to participate in the LCS season. if it were a one-off tournament, like dota 2's "the international" tournament, he wouldn't need a resident visa
-
-
-
Blizzard has WCS, but that doesn't require as long as a stay in another country as LCS might.
However, visa issues can still come up even for weekend events. All it takes it one bad encounter with a border agent and someone can get fucked for a very long time. I remember Stephano saying one time he had a rather interesting conversation at the US border that was mostly the agent thinking his stated reason was a fabrication. He had to convince the guy it wasn't and that the event actually existed. Stuff like that isn't really limited to just the US either.
So instead of "you say you're coming into this country to try and win money playing a video game?" with some person that's never once heard that's even possible and may/or may not think it is bullshit, it becomes a "oh ok, you have an entry visa of type X given to you via regulations blah blah etc". It turns it into something fully covered in the procedures and that is (hopefully) familiar to the agents. It just makes the whole process easier.
-
-
-
Probably not, since Valve isn't the employer for these pro players the same was Riot is for its scene. Not to mention only a handful of tournaments are actually played out in the US. The few organizations that it would apply to, such as Evil Geniuses and other US-based organizations, already fill their teams with Americans or Canadians and neither of those groups ever have visa issues. SexyBamboe is probably the only player in the Dota scene for whom this ruling may help, since he's the only non-American/non-Canadian paid by a US organization.
-
-
-
-
that was my first thought.
-
[deleted]
-
-
If everybody was allowed to drink a specific amount of Mountain Dew, would that still be ethical? Or is it cheating?
-
-
-
[deleted]
-
[deleted]
-
more likely beta blockers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_blocker#Anxiety_and_performance_enhancement
-
-
BTW, Chess falls under the same ranking for Visa usage, so.. don't go crazy.
-
-
League of Legends is a F2P MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) like Defense Against the Ancients (DoTA)
-
-
-
-
-
Athletic: physically active and strong; of or pertaining to athletes; involving the use of physical skills or capabilities, as strength, agility, or stamina
Athlete: a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength
So the USA government is retarded and don't know what an athlete is, or that games are not athletic.
-
