Foxdrop (and other Riot broadcast talent) weighs in on the working relationship with Riot - talking about how they get ghosted and eventually finding out on Twitter that they do not have a job anymore.
Foxdrop - a former LEC broadcast talent (and also EUM/NLC and other things) talked about his working relationship on Twitter. It was interesting and a lot of people replied so we get an insight into how Riot works with broadcast talent.
Foxdrop replying to Spica's announcement saying he found out he was kicked on Twitter:
This is how I found out I was dropped from LEC too, must be a League of Legends thing 🤔
I was ghosted for 5 MONTHS just to find out on Twitter I was dropped by LEC.
Fortunately casting was a passion thing for me and not my job so I was ok career wise. But this kind of thing has happened to MULTIPLE people, most of whom relied on casting as their livelihood
Some even uprooted their lives, moved to Berlin, worked a split or two, then got ghosted and dropped. Now they're in a foreign country wondering wtf they're meant to do next.
It's the not knowing. You can't look for a new gig because you're still holding out hope for LEC
After all, why shouldn't you? Last you heard everything was gucci. Then the months pass, the announcements get posted, the talent schedule gets released and you see you aren't there, and those in charge have stopped replying to your messages
It's the big downside of being a contractor. You're paid for each weekend you work and that's it. You will be told you have job security, of course, and you absolutely do - until papa Riot decides you don't
As much as working the LEC is a prestigious honour and a great experience this is the sad reality of being talent there. Esports is competitive and cut throat but bruh. You can't ghost people when you hold their literal livelihoods in your hands. It's simply unacceptable
Sorry for the long rant. It was frustrating enough when it happened to me but it was a long time ago and I had things to fall back on. But I'm STILL hearing about this kind of thing happening and it's not on. I just want Riot to approach these decision with more humanity.
I was announced as a caster for Worlds one year without being told and with no contract offer. I was then told I should work an entire Worlds for exposure and they tried to lie to me that my contract with OGN, and entirely different company than Riot, should include Worlds.
RyanCentral responds to Foxdrop:
For those that ask me 'why I'm not doing EMEA anymore' this is exactly what happened to me too.
'You can't ghost people when you hold their literal livelihoods in your hands. It's simply unacceptable' is incredibly true though. It was disappointing to be treated so badly
Foxdrop also tweeted this:
Having a lot of people, even from other Riot titles, also message me about their experience with this. One was a main stay for almost half a decade and STILL got this treatment. Insane
Obviously implying that this is very common for people who work with Riot as a broadcast talent.