This sublime esport is badly in need of some structure. In its popularity and sponsorships (e.g. Verizon, Mobil) it has outgrown its youth-dominated, fais ce que tu voudras origins. Psyonix, the originator of the game and the Rocket League brand, needs to designate a commissioner, or at least a central public information officer. Crucial things, like ticket sales to LAN events, are passed word of mouth on Reddit. The same with roster changes.
This season, the owner of Sand Rock Gaming announced that he was done sponsoring the team. There had been...issues. Sand Rock's best player oKhaliD, couldn't make the Swedish LAN because he had future-determining final examinations in Saudi Arabia. Then, for another major tournament, called a Split, oKhaliD didn't get his passport in time. So the whole team missed out.
Most recently, a team that didn't exist a year ago, Team Queso, entered the sponsored, sanctioned competitions and quickly established themselves as the best in the world--if they had given themselves the chance to prove it in the final to be held in person in Dallas this summer. They didn't and they won't because on April 27, just three days ago, the org released all three players and announced that it won't compete in the upcoming Euro Split. The announcement was made by the org on Twitter and was immediately met with confusion. How can the best team in the world be allowed to disband right before a major tournament? The announcement advised that the players had been "transferred" to another, one, org. All three? That's what the announcement indicated, "the players," "to another org." But there was a dearth of information and reading the tea leaves didn't help. Vitara, 15 years old, thanked his teammates for giving him the chance to play professionally, which suggested that he was going to one club and the others, Joyo and rise., to another--or two others. Then there was no announcement by another org(s) that a signing of one or all had taken place. The confusion was added to by reports on April 8th that Team BDS, the official world champion, had made a strong push to add Vitara alone. The European Spring Split that Queso would have entered is in five days. I am told, but I don't know for sure, that if the new team (assuming that the players are moving en masse) has its roster submitted by Monday that they can compete in the Split.
Vitara tweeted that he will never forget all the fans who chanted for Team Queso in their months as a team. It was heartfelt but not headthought. Psyonix needs to think of the fans--and, by the by, the sponsors. Who are all of those Queso fans to root for going forward? And corporations like Verizon and Mobil don't play. When they sponsor a tournament it's with the idea that these great players and brand name teams are going to be competing. What do you mean, Psyonix, Team Queso is not playing? They're now the Virginia Squires or something? It's bush league. Sand Rock, lock, stock and barrel were picked up by Falcons, the second-best team in MENA (Middle East/North Africa). You pull bush league crap you're not going to get major league sponsors like Verizon and Mobil. There are a million groups every day clamoring for their money.
Although it's called Rocket League, there is no league. There's no headquarters, no central office, no commissioner, no official communications channel. Rocket League is like Bitcoin or the myriad start-ups at the beginning of the wild, wild, west of the early world wide web, or the alphabet soup of rebel phyusical sports leagues, ABA, WHA, WFL, USFL, XFL. Without some basic structure you're going to go the way of the Virginia Squires or Texas Instruments. Like dude, it's not about the money, we just want to have fun. That is the bottom line, kids having fun. Tweet to Psyonix: Leave Mobil alone, the kids just want to have fun, want money. Or fans. They want to go back to playing anonymously in their bedrooms for free. Like they did before turning pro.
