Riot Stilgar · @AlbanDechelotte
7th Sep 2020 from TwitLonger
End of season
Of course, I cannot think of 2020 without starting by mentioning how the pandemic has impacted players, fans and our league - from the early signs of what’s going on flagged by our Asian colleagues, to the cancellation of our finals in Budapest and Malmo, through the celebration of teams playing remotely from their facilities.
I can’t find the words to share my admiration for our production teams and the staff of our LEC teams for their commitment to keep the sport going and for us to keep offering the fans their favorite show. We are truly humbled by the amount of fans who decided to tune in this summer with historical viewership across all recorded metrics for the LEC.
These constraints have challenged our team to come up with new ideas to surprise and delight fans, but also tested the nerves of our partners. I want to say thank you to our LEC Publishing team and our Global Esports Digital team, who have been able to implement a series of innovations, such as the new in-game drops, the LEC Fantasy League, the unconventional in-game Summoner’s Rift banners, and finally, the LEC finals discord and quiz (Do you even LEC?) initiatives.
One of the most memorable experiences for me has been watching how music is becoming one of the ingredients of the LEC magic formula, with Kia and LECtronic starting the season with “I Want the LEC back”, and inviting the fans to “Dance with me” to celebrate the departure of the LEC teams for the World Championship. We have also seen some brilliant Rap Battles stimulating the rivalries between teams. And finally, Warner Music added live performances from some of their most talented artists to our finals opening ceremonies.
2020 will also be marked by the pain and sadness we created among fans, talents and partners when we announced a partnership this summer.
Joining Riot Games a bit more than two years ago, my personal ambition was to build world class partnerships in esports based on the below principles:
First, partners should always add value to the experience of fans since as for traditional sports, they don't come to the stadium to watch banners
Second, partners and their promisses should be relevant to the community they enter in.
Meanwhile, the partnership’s activation should enable the brands to reach their marketing objectives in order to build a sustainable business relationship with Riot Games.
Finally, the way to build the partnership, from co-conception to alignment on the marketing commitments and execution, should allow each of the Rioters to feel they own and are accountable for the success of this relationship.
I can only say that what happened this summer - from beginning to the end - was a failure on almost all these principles. And almost every day since, I wish I could go back in time and change the steps that have led us to this painful situation. Since then, I have committed myself to focus on taking the best learnings possible to build a more robust decision process, and be an actor of change to give all voices a chance to be heard when we work on new partnerships.
This 2020 season ends, but I strongly believe that all the good, the bad, and the ugly that we’ve been through together, will make us stronger and better for the future.
So I want to finish by saying a big thank you to all our partners and vendors for their partnership and I couldn’t be more excited for what we’ve got prepared for you for this off-season, and for 2021.
This is just the beginning