British League of Legends top-laner Barney “Alphari” Morris and French ADC Steven “Hans sama” Liv have signed a two-year extension with Misfits.
The org made the announcement via their social media accounts.
We are pleased to announce that both @Alpharilol and @HanssamaLoL will renew with us for two more years! #MSFWIN pic.twitter.com/ZVkZH0MtBA
— Misfits (@MisfitsGG) September 6, 2016
The contract renewals come after Misfits qualified for the EU LCS, after originally making their way from the ESL UK Premiership last split (and having an ownership change, name change and roster change along the way).
After the announcement was made on Facebook, H2K ADC player Konstantinos “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou criticised long-term player contract deals on Twitter.
Please people stop signing contracts for over a year. Hell even 3+ months is way better and friendlier for the player and less for the orga.
— FORG1VEN (@FORG1VENGRE) September 6, 2016
Misfits manager Ali “Alicus” Saba quickly sprang to the players’ defence, saying to FORG1VEN: “That’s pretty odd advice to be honest, I think players should use professional representation that can negotiate them best possible deals.
“Long term security goes both ways if done right; and for your information you can have a higher salary already pre-negotiated for a second year.”
This raised a wider debate on player empowerment.
@MarcelFeldkamp @sbdki @FORG1VENGRE agree with you but what baffles me is why we don’t push for actually better (& more professional) deals
— Alicus (@AlicusOfficial) September 6, 2016
@MarcelFeldkamp @sbdki @FORG1VENGRE so we should work on empowering & actually guiding players.
— Alicus (@AlicusOfficial) September 6, 2016
@MarcelFeldkamp @sbdki @FORG1VENGRE yeah i feel you. in this case i’m happy to tell you our players are well protected.
— Alicus (@AlicusOfficial) September 6, 2016
Misfits were formerly known as the Renegades Banditos before Renegades were banned, and had several name changes denied before opting for Misfits.
Alphari played in the UK scene for Team Infused before joining the Banditos (now Misfits) at the start of the year.
Further reading:
https://esports-news.co.uk/2016/07/05/forg1ven-lessons-opinion/
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
