The Northern League of Legends Championship’s new tournament organizers, GameWave, have released a statement apologising for offending the league’s previous broadcast talent.
Long-serving esports casters Jake ‘Hiprain’ Matthews and Georgia ‘Troubleinc’ Parasand were unexpectedly let go from the NLC earlier this year, following budget cuts and a transition towards a less professional broadcast.
After the league was suspended, the former talent were then hurt after GameWave posted an open call for esports casters with the subsequent announcement of the league’s return.
The broadcasters were frustrated after being kept in the dark while the league’s future was up in the air, following the collapse of former NLC TOs League ApS, which informed Riot it was “no longer in a position to operate the league.”
The NLC has now clarified its position on hiring talent and has apologised for “not recognizing the severity of the topic.”
NLC Talent Update
The NLC acknowledged the sensitivity of the situation, stating:
“Talent is a delicate topic because of what happened in the past, and we did not intend to ignore the feelings that people have about it. Our open call was an attempt at an efficient process to select talent (former and new) for the NLC Spring split.
The league then revealed that over 90 casters have applied for the role, and the league is still considering 20 potential candidates.
However, there was no confirmation on whether any previous talent will return.
Former NLC Casters’ Frustrations
Upon the announcement of the NLC’s return, casters were furious that an open call for esports talent was posted before they were contacted.
Troubleinc responded to that post, saying: “I just don’t get it anymore. We are here NLC. We have been here since 2019. You should know that.”
The NLC account clarified that it had already created a list of previous talent to reach out to, but casters were still frustrated with the lack of communication, as Hiprain explained:
“Being in the dark has been rough, but trust me no one wants this league to succeed more than me. I turned down LPL three times to be part of NLC, I love this region.
“I’ll also admit I got a little too upset seeing our jobs on an open casting call before being spoken to.”
Another former NLC caster in Adrian ‘Jamada’ Wharlton-Thorne then weighed in:
“Imagine if you unfairly lost your job, hear nothing about its return for months and then see a posting out of nowhere looking to fill your role. Would you not be shocked/surprised? Again, it is typically good etiquette to reach out to old staff/talent first.”
He then stressed the importance of casters to the NLC, stating:
“If you want people to care about the league, they need to be given reasons to care, and usually that task comes through the forward-facing storytellers on the desk and cast. Having familiar faces is one of the most important things a broadcast can have.”
Troubleinc Reacts to NLC’s Statement
Troubleinc reacted to the NLC’s latest statement while co-streaming the LoL Esports World Cup Qualifiers.
After reading the statement, Troubleinc said:
“I hope the NLC does f*cking great, no matter who casts it. Because it’s a region we’ve spilt f***ing blood over, we have fought battles for the region no one will ever see.
“We have fought battles behind the scenes versus big people to keep the f***ing show alive. In many ways, we’ve sacrificed mental health to keep that show running.”
She then sent a rebuttal to angry Twitter users who labelled her entitled:
“It’s not about stealing money, if you knew how much money we were on, that’s not entitlement, and that’s not getting rich.
“I never asked for a guaranteed job, I asked for a reach out to people who had been unfairly fired.”
Do you think the NLC splitting into a Nordics league and a UK and Ireland league is a good idea? Share your opinions with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Meanwhile, content creator MoistCr1TiKaL has pleaded for the LCS to work with streamers after the Jynxzi LoL tournament.
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