In a few weeks, the first
LEC Roadtrip of the Spring Split will take place in Évry-Courcouronnes (24-26 April), where
’s arena is located. As the second event of the season to be held outside Berlin approaches, former Karmine Corp CEO
Arthur Perticoz, still close to the organization, shared his views during a
Twitch stream regarding several decisions made by Riot Games for the event’s organization, which he considers inconsistent.
“When you organize an event, what matters is the image (…) the first ten minutes are extremely important. You want shots of the crowd, you want to see the fans chanting, and so on,” he explained while introducing his argument. He then criticized what he described as three major mistakes by Riot Games in that regard, arguing that the organizer appears to focus less “on the product question, but on how to organize things so that they cost as little as possible.”
A problem with teams and schedules
According to him, the first issue concerns the scheduling of the opening match, which will take place on Friday, April 24 at 16:45. “It’s impossible to have a full arena at that time, regardless of the event. The first images will show plenty of empty seats in the venue.” Similar criticisms had already been raised during the most recent finals in Badalona, where some viewers noted that the arena appeared far from full in the broadcast shots.
He then explained that, for organizational reasons, there will be two matches per day, meaning that Karmine Corp, the host team, will play the “
main event” as the second match. “
The first image you show is therefore a match scheduled at a time when not everyone can be present, and one that spectators don’t particularly care about.” The first match of the day will indeed feature
against
, while KC will play the second match on each of the three days of the competition weekend.
Finally, Perticoz also raised concerns about the teams scheduled to play during the event, highlighting what he believes reflects a misunderstanding of sports fanbases. “In what sport do you bring people in and ask them to pay to watch teams they don’t like. Not teams they feel neutral about, but teams they actively dislike?” Without naming specific organizations, one could think, for instance, of Fnatic, given the well-known tensions between certain fan communities, or Shifters, whose recent performances have drawn considerable criticism. Only time will tell whether the former KC CEO’s criticisms will ultimately prove justified.
