Riot Games announces franchising in CBLoL 2020 plans

Riot Games is planning on franchising Brazilian competition CBLoL and is starting the process in 2020.

The future of the league will include a format where there’s an organisational buy-in and no chance of relegation, much like LCS, LEC, and LPL.

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Before franchising – or long-term partnerships between the developer and teams, which the aforementioned leagues are considered to utilise – is implemented in CBLoL, Riot Games needs to agree with potential teams for the business plan and how to set up a ‘path to pro.’

The application process for interested organisations will take place this year with a view of having the new system implemented fully in 2021. More information is expected to be released in the coming months.

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Riot Games also revealed in its announcement that its three main sponsors have all re-signed for the 2020 season. Gillette, Dell, and Red Bull will all sponsor the Brazilian league for the year, with new activations planned with each.

Coinciding with the announcement of franchising, Simplicity Esports announced that it has reached an agreement with Clube de Regatas do Flamengo to assume control over Flamengo Esports. The team won the CBLoL Championship in September last year and competed in the World Championship.

Esports Insider says: Implementing long-term partnerships (often referred to as franchising, rightly or wrongly) have worked wonders for LCS and LEC, and LPL is obviously a major force in esports that’s in its own lane. CBLoL can go from strength to strength with this change if it’s done correctly, taking the positives from the aforementioned leagues and fixing any problems that have been found with previous implementations.

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