Lyon gaming fined and forced to rebrand

Mexican League of Legends team Lyon Gaming has landed itself in a spot of trouble after being ruled to have breached its Riot contract.

EsportsInsider reports that the team has been fined $12,500 and told it must abandon its current branding after Riot was informed by a third party that the team could not claim legal ownership of its name and logo.

Upon joining the Latin America North League (LLN), Lyon Gaming would have signed contract which among other things asserted their legal rights to all aspects of their identity. Furthermore, to be found guilty the implication is that the team’s ownership was very likely aware that this was not the case.

Indeed, it turns out that Lyon has been illicitly using the name and branding for three years.

Lyon Gaming has not disputed the punishment and will be permitted to compete in the 2018 season under a new name. It has also not been placed under any sort of transfer embargo, and will be able to sign players in the same manner as any other LLN team.

Lyon has enjoyed a fairly strong season and only missed out on a place at the Worlds after losing to Cloud9 in a match that, while finishing 3-0, was tighter than many had anticipated. The team has previously competed at the 2016 International Wildcard Invitational. It has successfully won nine consecutive regional titles.