<
        >

          Reginald responds, says Merrill has 'out-of-date perspective'

          Team SoloMid owner Andy "Reginald" Dinh speaks to his team in between matches. TSM was one of the signatory parties on the LCS team owners' letter to Riot. Provided by Riot Games
          Aug 23, 2016, 03:05 PM ET

          Andy "Reginald" Dinh issued a response Tuesday afternoon regarding Riot Games co-founder Marc "Tryndamere" Merrill's comments from Monday, saying Merrill's points convey "an out-of-date perspective which doesn't take into account the current state of the esports ecosystem."

          Merrill's comments sparked outrage and disbelief Monday afternoon after he wrote, "Love me some Regi ... if he's so concerned about the financial health of his players, maybe he should spend more of the millions he has made ... paying [his players] instead of investing in other esports where he is losing money."

          Dinh promised a response via Twitter. On Tuesday, he addressed Merrill's thinking that the League of Legends Championship Series was a major profit investment for Dinh's organization and whether or not he was underpaying his players.

          First, Dinh stated "The reason why I started to invest in other games was because LCS left me no choice. The relegation system is unstable and risky for everyone, other publishers are more collaborative and provide more opportunities for teams and players to make revenue."

          Moving to his next point, he wrote that the LCS was stagnant in compensation and player stipends and that, despite the longer schedule with more games, the pay scale hardly budged even though "the cost of player salaries, content production, support staff and housing costs are spiraling up."

          He defended his pay scale and claimed to be one of the top organizations in player compensation and post-retirement care. Dinh then reiterated his points from the original interview about how the timing of the patches deeply impacted both player's careers and team choices.

          These points were mirrored in a video by outspoken League of Legends caster and analyst, Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles. In his video, he said Riot was outdated in its treatment and payment of commentators, outlining a trend in Riot's esport that extends to players and talent alike.

          It is not known if Riot will issue a response.