After five months of negotiations and processes, Schalke 04 has confirmed the sale of their LEC spot to Team BDS. The team worked closely with the LEC, and together ran a selection process for the next team to join the premier European League of Legends league.
Team BDS acquired the license to the LEC spot for €26.5 million.
Although still young, the Team DBS organisation has established itself and accomplished great growth; dedicated to growing esports and remaining close to its community. Team DBS boasts talented players in a variety of games, and its League of Legends team is a top competitor in the LFL; finishing in the top four of the French league's 2021 Spring Split.
While we're excited to see the entrance of such a young and enthusiastic team, it is still sad to see the departure of Schalke 04. Led by Gilius, the team has constantly surrounded itself in the most memorable of narratives, with the Miracle Runs and surprise dominant performances. Over the past five years, Schalke 04 have been a staple of the LEC and brought great memories to fans.
Team BDS aren't short of their own storylines, however. In the world of Rocket League and Rainbow Six Siege, the organisation has taken low tier teams to the top of Europe and the World, developing talent and growing. It is time to see if they can boast the same success within the League of Legends world. The Switzerland based team claims to be driven by performance, and their ambition is to feature amongst the best teams in the LEC, and even attend the World Championships in the future.
Schalke 04 will continue playing in the LEC until the end of 2021, where they currently sit in a tied 7th place with a 2-5 record. Following this, the current Schalke roster will have their contracts end; putting them into Free Agency and therefore allowing them to be picked up by other teams. They will not become contracted to Team BDS.
The plan is for Team BDS to continue competing in the LFL, where the organisation has already spoken about fostering talent through its academy team. The team will have no part of the LEC during the 2021 season, and will have no influence or involvement with Schalke 04 until the transition going into 2022.
We look forward to hearing what Team BDS will do for its roster going into the new year. It is reported that they have a strong financial backing, so money should not be a problem when putting a roster together. The question is whether they use this to go after some of the more veteran players, or bring a more rookie roster from the LFL to the LEC.
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