Team Dignitas‘ application to join the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS) has been rejected, according to a report from ESPN.
Riot Games started notifying applicants of their status last week, according to the report, and Dignitas is not the only team that competed in the NA LCS this year to be denied. Dignitas will be eligible to receive an exit fee, which is comprised of $3 million paid per each team accepted into the NA LCS that wasn’t already an existing participant. Any team that competed in the LCS or North American Challenger Series this year but is not accepted into the LCS for next year will be eligible to receive part of that money.
Dignitas will also be obliged to sell or release the contracts of its remaining players, otherwise the organization would not be eligible for the exit fee, according to the report. All the players’ contracts expire Nov. 20, according to Riot Games’ global contract database, except AD carry Benjamin “LOD” DeMunck and jungler Lee “Shrimp” Byeong-hoon, who were signed through next year.
Riot announced the franchise model in June, giving teams multi-year contracts without risk of being relegated, and revealed last month the NA LCS will remain at 10 teams. The Challenger Series will be replaced with an Academy League.