Team SoloMid : When TSM announced in January that they had signed Dota 2 team Team Undying, many fans were taken aback. However, it seems that several employees inside the company were also caught off guard by the purchase.
The Washington Post claims that the nature of the name rights contract was only one of many “speed bumps” in TSM’s 10-year, $210 million deal with crypto exchange FTX before the decision was made today to discontinue the collaboration.
Riot Games made it very clear from the get-go that TSM could not use the FTX logo in League of Legends. According to a former employee, this led TSM’s leadership to investigate opportunities in esports where the TSM FTX co-branding may be utilised.
According to rumors, this is what inspired TSM to enter the Dota 2 market by recruiting the undead Undying lineup, who had been making waves in the North American Dota Pro Circuit both at the time and in the years before.
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“Before FTX, Andy and TSM leadership had little interest in ‘Dota,'” a former employee told WaPo. In contrast, “[b]ut the FTX folks love ‘Dota’ so much, and that’s why TSM acquired a ‘Dota’ squad.”
TSM’s spokeswoman Gillian Sheldon has now rejected this, saying that the company never “picked up a ‘Dota’ squad for the sake of the FTX collaboration.” However, according to the same departing worker, management has long put resources into areas that are prioritized by sponsors.
Another former employee argues the esports company needed to find methods to bring more value to the table, despite TSM’s denials that FTX was dissatisfied with the value of its investment and that stakeholders confirmed “on several occasions that TSM was delivering all it promised.” So they decided to recruit a low-cost, low-risk Dota lineup to give the club more exposure in a popular esport.
A veteran esports official with knowledge of Dota told WaPo that the maximum salary for an unsponsored lineup with few possible competing bids in a dry North American environment would be $12,000. Moreover, they would be able to easily get rid of that payment since, outside of the DPC season rankings, Dota is known for being very lenient with roster fines.
The acquisition proved fruitful for TSM, as the new team quickly established themselves as one of the best in North America, placing in the top eight at a number of events and even making it to the finals of the Stockholm Major. The team’s first year of competition resulted in a $419,402 profit, despite the fact that they finished a dismal 19th in The International 2022.
Now that we know TSM didn’t join Dota only to appease FTX’s stockholders, the issue is whether or not the organization will stick around.
Now that T1 seems set to leave the scene and Evil Geniuses is moving to South America, TSM has a great chance to enter the 2023 DPC season as the undisputed best team in North America. Due to the departure of DuBu, the team’s lineup will likely undergo some changes, but if the corporation is as “profitable” and “stable” as it says, it seems likely that it will keep the Dota division whole.
The bankruptcy filing by FTX last week and other difficulties surrounding the suspected abuse of assets led to the suspension of the TSM-FTX cooperation. Before this declaration, the team had already begun to phase down all FTX references, including from jerseys, social media, and other official channels.
As of Friday, November 16 at 1:58 PM CT, TSM has responded in detail to the Dot Esports article announcing the organization’s debut into Dota 2, explaining that the expansion was undertaken to bring TSM closer to compete at the top level of every tier one esport.
TSM claims that “Dota 2 is one of the biggest esports in the world” and that “the International is one of the most watched and recognized global championship esports competitions.” “On a strategic level, TSM aimed to compete in every major esport. Team Undying, comprised of free agents from North America, had a strong showing in the International [2021]. Lucky for us, we were able to recruit the whole team, and in their first year playing for TSM they won the North American Championship.
TSM’s entry into Dota was seen as a strategic decision to compete in another major game as well as a strategy to increase value for all sponsors affiliated with the organization, including FTX.
With that plan in place and no imminent intentions to leave Dota after TI11, TSM has committed to playing in the following DPC season with the intention of dominating North America.
We’ve had a great experience competing in Dota 2 this year and getting to know our current team members. TSM has stated their intention to defend their North American DPC title. It’s worth noting that TSM is the only surviving significant esports organization in the North American Dota 2 scene at this time. Our goal is to ensure that our team and players have every advantage they need to win championships, and we want to keep investing in them to that end.
Timado, Bryle, SabeRLight-, and captain MoonMeander remain from the Undying roster, as does head coach MISERY.
