League of Legends’ League Championship Series players have lost their streaming rights

League of Legends League Championship Series players have lost their streaming rights to Riot Games, developers and publishers of MOBA game League of Legends. They’re no longer allowed to stream other ‘stream-friendly’ games, play around in online poker or eSports betting sites, smoke, or display under-the-counter drugs and firearms. The list of banned items was first published on onGamers

The upset about the loss of freedom to stream stuff is understandably riotous (Riot’s director of eSports, Whalen ‘RiotMagus’ Rozelle, explained the company’s stand in Reddit’s r/leagueoflegends but was immediately shot down by other Redditors.

Personally I think the ban on personal vices is in line with what is expected of a paid professional representing a brand. The inability to stream anything else, however, is a greyer area. According to Riot, a League Championship Series player playing another game is akin to the following:

Similarly, you probably wouldn’t see an NFL player promoting Arena Football or a Nike-sponsored player wearing Reebok on camera.

According to the general argument on Reddit, however, Riot isn’t paying the streamers anyway: Twitch and/or Azubu are. Still, it does seem a bit harsh to limit players to just one game on stream, especially if some of these individuals stream to supplement their incomes. Viewers – no matter how many hardcore League fans there are – are simply not going to want to watch League all day.

But to each his own, obviously. It doesn’t look like Riot is backing down any time soon. What do you think of the situation?

(Thanks, onGamers)