Several hours after the LEC announced a partnership with Saudi Arabian city development NEOM, the league pulled out of the deal as a result of widespread backlash from the League community, LEC on-air talent, and other Riot employees.
Some people still brought into question the integrity of those who spoke against the NEOM partnership, like LEC caster Indiana “Froskurinn” Black, who voiced her disapproval of the deal on her social media. For example, on the Crackdown podcast, Duncan “Thorin” Shields said he believed the reason why Frosk made the tweets was so that she “[does] not have to do anything.”
In response to these comments, Froskurinn said that she “put her fucking job on the line,” as did multiple other members of the on-air LEC talent crew, because they all refused to appear on the weekend broadcast until the deal was rescinded.
Popular talent like Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere, Christy “Ender” Frierson, Laure “Bulii” Valée, and Trevor “Quickshot” Henry echoed the same sentiments, with Quickshot saying that they all raised concerns with Riot and LEC leaders, and were all ready to refuse to work on the show.
Clearly, the negative response by the public and by Riot’s own employees was strong enough to make the company cancel the partnership with the company, but many other people are still disappointed that the decision was made in the first place.
The 2020 LEC Summer Split will continue this coming weekend on Friday, July 31.
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