Pro player Turner “Tfue” Tenney sues his team FaZe Clan, Riot Games launches a collegiate governing body, and Valve will develop its own version of Dota Auto Chess.
Missed any of the biggest esports business news last week? The TEO Monday Morning Briefing recaps the top headlines from the last seven days!
Turner “Tfue” Tenney, a professional Fortnite 
player, as well as a popular streamer and content creator for FaZe Clan , has sued the organization for what he claims are violations of California law and the state’s Talent Agencies Act. According to the complaint, Tenney believes that FaZe Clan has restricted his business opportunities by preventing him from taking his own sponsorship deals, including a claimed potential HyperX partnership that would have conflicted with a FaZe Clan sponsor.
The complaint, filed by attorney Bryan Freedman of Freedman + Taitelman on behalf of Tenney, claims that the agreement signed with FaZe Clan is “grossly oppressive, onerous, and one-sided,” and that the organization takes up to 80% of his earnings from branded videos and 50% of touring and appearance revenue as finder’s fees.
After both Tenney and FaZe Clan issued further statements during the week, FaZe co-owner Richard “Banks” Bengston pledged to publicly release Tenney’s original contract. While that hasn’t happened yet, celebrity news site The Blast got a hold of the contract and first reported on its contents, with ESPN also obtaining an original copy and confirming the details of the Blast report.
Amidst all of this, Tenney’s brother Jack Tenney reportedly told YouTuber Daniel “KEEMSTAR” Keem that Tenney wants to split from FaZe Clan to establish his own organization. Keem claims that the information was confirmed by an unnamed pro Fortnite player with knowledge of the situation.
Riot Games has named the six members of the advisory board to the new Riot Scholastic Association of America (RSAA), its standalone division to handle college and high school League of Legends esports.
The advisory board includes esports directors and leaders from the Big Ten Network; Mountain West Conference; Intersport; Robert Morris University; UC-Irvine; University of Utah; and MIT. The RSAA will have an open mandate to pursue initiatives that will help establish League of Legends as a long-term presence on campuses throughout the US, instead of relying on possibly short-lived student-run clubs.
Game publisher Valve Corporation posted an announcement on its Dota 2 blog, that it is currently developing a standalone version of the popular game mod Dota Auto Chess game. Further details about this game were not disclosed, but will be shared soon, according to Valve.
Valve claimed that the company had reached out to Drodo Studio, the developer of the original Dota Auto Chess mod, to discuss future collaboration, but the two companies could not work directly together due to “variety of reasons,” but will continue to support each other’s games. On April 18, Drodo Studio opened its test version of Auto Chess on Android, and the IOS version of the game finished development on May 22.
Vainglory developer Super Evil Megacorp has confirmed via a blog post that it no longer plans to take an active role in the mobile MOBA’s esports scene. The post details the changing tides of interest and focus for the studio, as it went from building tools to support a budding community scene to operating a full-fledged league with major organizations and international events. Last year, however, Super Evil Megacorp turned to third-parties to operate esports events as it sought to refocus its efforts on ongoing development of the game itself.
Sponsorships and Partnerships Round-Up
Twitch has announced a partnership with The Hershey Company that will see more exposure on the streaming platform for the Hershey’s and Reese’s brands. The deal not only involves video ads on Twitch, but goes a bit deeper with participation in TwitchCon North America, coming to San Diego in September. In addition, Hershey will sponsor Twitch streamers Tim “TimTheTatman” Betar, Ben “DrLupo” Lupo, and his wife, MrsDrLupo. The deal includes product placements, branded streams, and meet-and-greet opportunities for fans throughout the year.
Nike’s Air Jordan brand has partnered with Epic Games for a branded activation inside Fortnite. The Hang Time bundle includes Jumpman-branded character outfits and a skateboarding themed challenge mode called Downtown Drop LTM. The activation is Fortnite’s first fashion partnership.
Razer and Evil Geniuses have partnered once again, announcing a two-year sponsorship agreement that will see the team use the peripheral maker’s various devices. The companies had previously partnered for a sponsorship deal in 2013, but Evil Geniuses then signed with rival maker SteelSeries in 2015.
DreamHack has entered into a partnership with gaming hardware brand ZOWIE and amateur/grassroots player platform Esport-Management to create an all-women Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) tournament.
