It is said that the strongest team in the USA has to sell its pro place – “What a dip!”

Team Solo Mid is the most successful and strongest American team in League of Legends. TSM has won 7 out of 20 LCS titles. For 8 years the star organization Bjergsen lived. But in the year 2023, the team appears to be on the brink of collapse. With the organization facing financial difficulties due to the bankruptcy of a crypto bank, TSM is now allegedly planning to sell its professional slot in the LCS. An insider report says so. Fans are horrified, the CEO is silent.

This was the message:

We at MeinMMO have reported extensively on the demise of alleged crypto-genius Sam Bankman-Fried.

What does it mean to sell your “spot”? The professional LCS is a franchise league: you cannot be promoted or relegated to it. Teams must purchase a league place from another team if they wish to enter the league. These sites are traded in the tens of millions.

Schalke 04 sold their place in Euro 2021 to Switzerland for €26.5m.

The CEO does not deny, making vague statements

What does TSM itself say about this? You do not comment directly on the story. However, TSM President Reginald responded indirectly on Twitter the next day.

Reginald said: TSM is committed to esports.

He says they plan to get into CS:GO – it’s a bigger investment than “all the games” they have left: they’ll always look at the situation in esports and decide where it’s best to invest.

The “Games I Left” may actually refer to the exit from LoL – but also to the fact that TSM pulled out of Rainbow Six Siege esports in February 2023 (via dexterto).

The CEO said he really wanted to double the stakes in LoL – but he just couldn’t

on reddit Reginald explains:

• He had planned to go deeper lol and “double the stakes” – but that couldn’t be done
• He can’t say anything right now for legal and business reasons, but he’ll “shed light” on it soon

What does he mean by that? Ahead of 2022, TSM reportedly faced a crossroads after superstar Bjergsen decided to resume his career as a professional player.

It is said that Reginald planned:

• Re-signing Bjergsen and building an expensive team for him – the best North America has to offer – is what he means by ‘double the stakes’
• But Bjergsen refused and TSM relied on a cheap team with talent from China

Fans mourn the climax with Bjergsen

How is this discussed? This is a huge story for League of Legends, because until a few years ago TSM was still the dominant force in North America for years due to the giant crypto deal.

On reddit people write:

• “The name was uttered by audiences all over the world and now they stand like that – what a breakdown!”
• “I wonder how the whole story would have changed if TSM hadn’t acquired Bjergsen in 2014. I’ve always felt like TSM relied too much on players coming to them just to play with Bergsen.”
• “TSM was the most popular organization in the world before Bjergsen and its players averaged 300,000 viewers.”

The “TSM” shouts have been a known phenomenon in League of Legends for the ages:

What’s with Bergsen? Dane Bjergsen joined TSM in 2013 and stayed with the organization until 2021: he became a star in LoL.

In 2021, Bergsen left the team. At this time there was a struggle over the portrayal of Reginald as a tyrant.

Without Bjergsen, TSM relied on a young squad that had a strong influence over China, but had some problems here. A coach reportedly stole €200,000 from his own pocket while trying to lure Chinese players to TSM.

Without Bjergsen, TSM hasn’t had much success in the past two years.

Is TSM Really Selling LoL? It’s not official, but there’s a lot to be said about it. Right before the report, the LoL Pros coach said that the LoL team had to work on a very low budget. In addition, several key staff members were laid off and Reginald was said to have “hired too many new people very quickly”.

Obviously, losing the deal with the cryptocurrency exchange was a huge blow.

Reginald’s remarks do not sound like denials. For the American LoL scene, leaving TSM would definitely be a huge loss. For many years, TSM was the team you had to beat – or go for – if you wanted to be LCS champion.

The crisis at TSM began in November 2021 when negative reports surrounding Reginald multiplied:

It is said that the strongest man in US LoL is the bastard who kills players