Riot has updated their rules for the North American League of Legends Challenger Series, which bring changes to the relegation tournament and an increase to the prize pool for the 2017 season. Perhaps most importantly, Riot will no longer send the eighth-place team in a split to the Promotion Tournament, which will now only feature the bottom two teams from that LCS split and the top two teams from that CS split. Additionally, Riot has doubled the prize pool to $200,000 per split, on top of giving teams a guaranteed minimum of $50,000 in digital revenue on top of existing revenue from team icons. The rules regarding relegation fall in line with calls from teams earlier this year for increased stability in the LCS. Many teams and team owners said that relegation was hurting organizations’ and teams’ growth, including G2 Esports’ Carlos “Ocelote” Rodriguez, who said teams aren’t rewarded enough for being in the LCS to warrant a relegation tournament. Now, the promotion tournament will feature a double-elimination, best of five bracket, that will start with the ninth place LCS team playing the second place CS team, and the tenth place LCS team facing the first place CS team. Two wins will get a team into the LCS, and two losses will kick them down to the Challenger Series. “We believe it’s important to the overall health and entertainment value of the NA LCS to balance the relegation risk that teams face with a competitive and engaging league,” Riot wrote in a press release. “With new organizations entering the NA LCS, we want to provide opportunities for teams to grow by building their fanbase but still ensuring the best teams remain in the League.” Similarly, the increased revenues and prize pools for teams also fall in line with teams’ concerns about a lack of revenue sources in the LCS. Now, the team that finishes first in each split’s playoffs will win $100,000, and each team will get an additional minimum of $50,000 in digital revenue, the same amount of money they’d get if they won a previous split’s playoffs. Riot’s NA LCS prize pool has been $100,000 since the very first NA LCS split in 2013, making this the first prize pool increase in NA LCS history. “With rising salaries and minimum compensation requirements in the NA LCS, prize pools aren’t the main driver of competition,” Riot stated in a press release. “However, we want to continue to provide improved compensation as our League continues to grow and mature.” While Riot listed “new digital goods” outside of summoner icons as one of the things that will generate revenue for teams next year, Riot did not state what form that content would take. While the content is specified as being in-game, no other details were given. Other changes include how Riot will handle arbitration regarding teams that want to contest rulings Riot makes about NA LCS ruleset violations. Riot will now employ JAMS, an independent group that will hold hearings and present findings to both parties. Expedited arbitration will be offered in cases where a player has been suspended or fined more than $10,000. The slower, traditional method of arbitration will also be conducted by JAMS, but will not be expedited. Finally, the last change Riot has made to the 2017 ruleset involves teams signing “inactive” players. Players will now be able to sign with a team even if they do not have permits to work in the United States. Those players will be unable to play until they secure a visa, but will be granted poaching protections and still be considered part of the roster. Teams can also sign inactive players who are currently serving a suspension. Each team can sign up to three inactive players, though they will count towards each team’s maximum of ten players per roster. These three players will not be permitted to play in the LCS until they secure work eligibility and can be moved to the active roster, which could theoretically happen at any point during the season.