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http://www.polygon.com/2013/7/12/4518936/competitive-gaming-recognized-in-u-s-as-a-pro-sport
Polygon reports
The official League of Legends eSports tournament League Championship Series has been recognized as a fully professional sport by the U.S. State Department. For the first time, players from outside the United States can move to the U.S. under specific visas, which are provided for pro sports players coming to America to work. Previously, overseas LCS players had to go through a complicated series of applications to play professionally in the United States. ... The news first emerged during an interview with Riot's eSports manager Nick Allen on GameSpot, in which he said that LCS players are now eligible for professional athlete sports visas. http://www.gamespot.com/league-of-legends/videos/riots-magus-and-nick-allen-talk-tournament-format-and-more-6411345/
While this currently only applies to LCS (League of Legends) teams it seems, I really hope Blizzard and SC2 teams are pushing for this to apply to them also. We have been through many stories of players not having their visas ready in time to come to an MLG or NASL and other big LAN events in USA. It would suck for this to happen to a player making it to the WCS finals in Anaheim during BlizzCon. All eSport games need to work together on this.
Edit: USCIS P-1A Internationally Recognized Athlete visa
Supporting Documents
The Form I-129 must include the following documents:
A written consultation from an appropriate labor organization A copy of the contract with a major U.S. sports league or team or a contract in an individual sport commensurate with international recognition in the sport, if such contracts are normally utilized in the sport An explanation of the event and itinerary Documentation of at least two of the following: Evidence of having participated to a significant extent in a prior season with a major United States sports league Evidence of having participated to a significant extent in international competition with a national team Evidence of having participated to a significant extent in a prior season for a U.S. college or university in intercollegiate competition A written statement from an official of a major U.S. sports league or an official of the governing body of the sport which details how you or your team is internationally recognized A written statement from a member of the sports media or a recognized expert in the sport which details how you or your team is internationally recognized Evidence that you or your team is ranked, if the sport has international rankings Evidence that you or your team has received a significant honor or award in the sport
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THis was posted in the general forum earlier today, everyone had good laugh and the thread was closed : (
omg i beat incontrol *glasses*; anyway, i posted this theory earlier:
Basically normal people are going to shit on them when they find out about that. I cant imagine flyers or posters or what have you resonating well with some people --
MY PEOPLE: http://stuffchicanoslike.blogspot.com/2009/11/5-dodgers-aka-los-doyers.html
So hopefully the lol thing helps other games get the same thing but they are going to be a lightning rod for some people, i think -- not just SC2 elitiststs
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iNcontroL
USA29055 Posts
I am not any kind of informed person on the matter but this makes absolute sense.
I am guessing Riot lobby'd for this for a long time and they got it because they worked at it and have a legitimate claim.
LCS is a stable commitment to providing salary and housing to progamers and that means the State Department can count on them being real citizens as opposed to the WCS system which has no such support so why would the government support a company freely moving in unsupported immigrants? They (in the eyes of the government) could become a burden on the State.
LCS doing it right imo. Would love it if Blizz followed this example but that would require more support for WCS and it's players.
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I agree.LCS is doing a great job with supporting their players, and we could work together to follow in the foot steps to grow even bigger.
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Great news for esports, riot or not, it will only help further legitimise the industry and with that comes capital etc... Exciting times.
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Whenever anyone is immigrating to a country (even tourist visa) the first thing the gov wants to know is who will support these people. I know this from immigrating to Canada and the U.S.So, like Geoff says, it`s likely an issue in proving that someone will take the responsibility when these immigrants go running lose. It`s not something to be taken lightly. The gov might require they sign off on welfare bills for 5 years.
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Yep, one of the main supporting documents I had to submit for my now wife (from Canada) is proof that I can financially support her. Essentially its a temp work visa and they want that proof they will be supported and will not be a drain on welfare programs that already can't support every person needing them.
We also had to have proof of permanent residence and her own financial support if she wanted to stay longer than a month for a visit. They really do not want someone get flown here, get stuck and require assistance getting home.
(I was hoping it was going to stay in SC2 to continue the discussion of this topic for SC2 teams, but can understand after the many closed threads on the topic trolling to LoL vs SC2.)
One thing to keep in mind is the IRS be able to track you and your winnings easier. I found this that has some insight in international golf players winning in the USA.
http://blogs.hrblock.com/2012/08/14/professional-golfers-and-taxes/
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theres also an article on forbes about it, but it speaks of esport in general, not only LoL
To the general public, the idea that those who play video games for a living have much in common with high level professional athletes might be laughable. But those involved with the scene understand the unique talent, skill and determination of the players mirrors that of “real” athletes, even if their physical fitness is different.
Source: Forbes
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Shouldn't trust second/third hand sources. This is for LCS players and has nothing to do with any other eSports title. Maybe it sets a precedent but currently doesn't effect anyone else.
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second hand source? seems you dont know Forbes.. its not any noname magazine. its one of the bigger business magazines in the US. you can definitely treat them as a legit source
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I don't think that SC2 will get that much support and reception from the general public if they do decide to push in the request to make SC2 an official Olympics esport compared to LoL. LoL has exploded and their fanbase count is much, much larger than SC2's, and I do not think that any other game has gotten close to how large their fanbase is now. The 1st game that comes to mind is CoD, but I don't even think that CoD's fanbase in its largest state could match how big LoL's is currently.
It's sad to say but SC2 needs to step up their advertising and lean more towards the casual scene so that they can get a larger fanbase IMO. If you asked a casual gamer who doesn't understand anything about hardcore gaming what would you rather play: LoL or SC2, I'd highly doubt they said SC2 because of how hard the learning curve is, and how one mistake you made in a game can ruin your entire fun.
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On July 15 2013 20:54 Enox wrote: second hand source? seems you dont know Forbes.. its not any noname magazine. its one of the bigger business magazines in the US. you can definitely treat them as a legit source
It's a second hand source because the article just quotes the Gamespot-interview with Nick Allen, which is the primary source. Of course, Forbes is a high-profile magazine but the article doesn't provide any new information and it's quite understandable that the write doesn't distinguish between LoL and other games because it's of almost no interest for his readers.
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On July 15 2013 20:54 Enox wrote: second hand source? seems you dont know Forbes.. its not any noname magazine. its one of the bigger business magazines in the US. you can definitely treat them as a legit source
I assume you don't know what a second hand source means. Here's the wiki of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_source
Just to summarise it's a source that uses the information from another source but doesn't directly have said info. In this case Forbes no matter how good they are still aren't the ones that have the info, they merely quote another site that did an interview with a man that had the info. If anything it's not even a secondary source. It's more akin to a tertiary source I guess.
Anyway obviously things are lost when the information is being written so removed from the actual source so it's bad to take anything said as concrete. This is a perfect example in that they don't distinguish between this being for LCS and other games so you make the wrong conclusion and false information is spread. This is how people get angry at each other.
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United States40776 Posts
Closing this. They're recognised as athletes for visa purposes because they come into the country and compete and then leave again so as far as immigration is concerned that's the one that fits them best. Unfortunately the vast majority of tl posters are too stupid to understand that and the topic turns to shit.
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