100 thieves leave League of Legends in a messy manner, leaving the LTA behind

100 Thieves are planning to leave the League of Legends professional scene due to a lack of funding to support the team, but Riot didn’t want to lose them just yet. Despite 100T having already sold their franchise slot, they will remain in the LTA format for another year in a provisional slot.

2024 was a strange year for 100T. On one hand, they defeated Cloud9 with an unexpected win, making it through Worlds 2024 despite an overall mediocre season. Once they got to the event, they were absolutely decimated, losing to small region teams and showing that the LCS was somewhat of a two-team region this year.

Despite this, the team re-signed River and it looked like they had retained and developed their talent to make a better run in 2025. However, not all is well in the 100 Thieves camp.

Unfortunately for fans of the team, they have already sold their franchise slot back to Riot in connection with the LTA merger. They are guaranteed to be out of the competition next year. But Riot has opted to keep 100 Thieves around for another year, despite already selling their slot.

According to a press release from Riot, 100T’s choice was based on “business reasons” and not a lack of desire to stay in the competition. Since Nadeshot is a taking a pay cut to secure the CDL team he wantedthis should come as no surprise.

Furthermore, Riot doesn’t really know what they’ll do with the slot once 100T makes its exit at the end of 2025. In disguise, they have already filled a guest slot that they can defend at the end of the year. , but it’s not clear if the second slot will remain a guest slot once 100 Thieves is gone.

Making it a guest spot could be a good move for the league, given creators’ interest in creating Tier 2 teams. If that extra spot becomes available, more maker teams can find a way in it.

However, there’s a chance that Riot decides to sell the slot to a team for franchising as well, although it’s not clear how valuable that slot would be considering how 100T made their exit.