Immortals‘ application for the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS) has been denied, and Echo Fox‘s was approved, according to an ESPN report.
Immortals was denied in part because of the organization’s investment in creating a live-viewing experience for its Overwatch League team, which is based in Los Angeles, where Riot Games’ studio is, according to the report.
Immortals would be entered into the pool of teams that will get a portion of the 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 previously participated in the NA LCS or the North American Challenger series but is not accepted for 2018 will be eligible for the exit fee.
For Immortals to be eligible for the exit fee, the team would have to sell or release the players who are still under contract. Kim “Olleh” Joo-sung and Lee “Flame” Ho-jung’s contracts expire Oct. 31, but the rest of the roster — William “Stunt” Chen, Andy “AnDa” Hoang, Jake “Xmithie” Puchero, Eugene “Pobelter” Park, and Cody “Cody Sun” Sun — are under contract until through 2018 or 2019, according to Riot Games’ global contract database.
Team SoloMid, Counter Logic Gaming, Team Liquid and Cloud9 have also reportedly been accepted into the NA LCS, as has OpTic Gaming and owner of the Golden State Warriors, Joe Lacob. Dignitas, Phoenix1, and Team EnVyUs have reportedly been denied.