All of this is to say that financial negotiations have indeed been fierce, but at no point has the public been given solid evidence of much of anything. Although H2K claims inoperable costs, no other teams have yet rallied to their cry. Although Moore predicted huge losses, he did not elaborate on the point after the split. Furthermore, H2K’s conjectures of Riot profits are just that.

According to an insider at Riot, the vast majority of revenue for the company comes from the game and parent company Tencent. The eSport side of Riot has, we were told, always run at a loss and continues to do so. This is partially due to the cost to stage Riot events – moving servers and hiring outside vendors is exorbitantly expensive, but Riot has not yet found a better method – but also due to the fact that LoL is broadcast for free, unlike traditional sports games. The level of profit-sharing and advertising for an eSport is simply not there when the majority of fans watch from home on a free streaming service.

Our takeaway? Teams do need better financial restitution. LoL still can’t match Dota 2 in player compensation, but many of the NA LCS’s concerns will be alleviated by enfranchisement, which will give sponsors solid teams to support instead of teams that may fall to relegation. As for H2K and EU, that’s messier.

Riot has made no announcements towards enfranchisement for the EU, and if we had to guess, they are reluctant to change a system that has such popularity in the physical sports of the country. If there really is a problem with the EU financially – and there may be – H2K will only find success if other teams join their cause. Until then, all we have is hearsay.