club could concentrate on bouncing back next season, so a lot of the criticism he received was unwarranted. Villa should give the kids a chance and se

North American and European League Championship Series teams have written a letter to league organizer and League of Legends developer Riot Games to address financial concerns, league chartership plans, revenue sharing and relegation from the League, as confirmed by league sources to ESPN.The original letter, earlier reported by Slingshot Esports, was signed by 18 of the 20 participating LCS teams and addressed to Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill, co-head of esports Whalen Rozelle, co-head of esports Jarred Kennedy and head of EU esports Jason Yeh, and copied to other Riot co-founder Brandon Beck. It highlights six alleged issues with the current structure and Riot-proposed structure in place that require solving and suggests potential options for solution.The 18 owners of the teams collectively wrote that they believe there are issues in job security caused by relegation from the league, as well as lack of compensation, which is currently a Riot-given minimum of $12,500 per player per split in North America and €11,250 in Europe. The letter also claims the current model of relegation does not allow for teams to generate enough revenue to invest in their players.The letter also alleges that Riot Games is currently constructing charter memberships for 2018 in North America and 2019 in Europe, a system similar to franchising. The owners concern is that Riot has not assured them that they will be involved in this charter. In addition, the team agreements, which are signed twice a year for each split, do not automatically renew. The letter calls for an auto renewal, which guarantees that teams that remain in the league are granted spots in the league by default.In the letter, the team owners state that Riots terms simply will not fix the instability and financial losses which the Teams have articulated to Riot in detail. Furthermore, after proposing solutions, the owners add that The compromise solution will not effectively solve the problems stated above and, at best, will still find the Teams operating at a loss in 2017. We believe, however that, given Riots position on these issues, the compromise solution outlined above is a minimally acceptable path forward for 2017.Immortals, Team Liquid, Team Vitality, and Misfits have declined to comment on the letter. Riot Games, Cloud 9, Unicorns of Love, Origen, Fnatic, G2 Esports, Phoenix1, Giants Gaming, Counter Logic Gaming, Splyce, H2K Gaming, Team EnVyUs, Team Dignitas, Team SoloMid and Team ROCCAT have yet to respond to a request for comment.James Van Riemsdyk Flyers Jersey . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Samuel Morin Flyers Jersey . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/ . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. Brian Propp Jersey . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Michael Raffl Flyers Jersey . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre.Sky Sports Paul Merson is back to look ahead to another crucial round of Premier League fixtures.Eight points off a maiden top-flight crown, Leicester, without the suspended Jamie Vardy, host Swansea on Super Sunday as they look to stretch the gap between themselves and Tottenham.Second-placed Spurs will be waiting, ready to pounce if the Foxes slip up when they entertain West Brom on Monday Night Football. Before all of that, the race for survival takes centre stage as Sunderland look to move out of the relegation zone when they face Arsenal at the Stadium of Light in Sundays early kick-off.There is also the little matter of the FA Cup semi-finals, where Crystal Palace, Everton, Manchester United and Watford jostle for a place in the Wembley showpiece.Read on to see who the Magic Man is backing... Last weeks predictions Result Merses prediction Norwich 0-3 Sunderland 1-1 Everton 1-1 Soton 2-2 Man Utd 1-0 Aston Villa 3-0 Newcastle 3-0 Swansea 2-1 West Brom 0-1 Watford 2-0 Chelsea 0-3 Man City 2-1 Bmouth 1-2 Liverpool 1-2 Leicester 2-2 West Ham 2-1 Arsenal 1-1 Palace 3-0 Stoke 0-4 Spurs 0-4 Leicester v Swansea - Super Sunday, 4.15pm This game was a gimme for Leicester last week, now Jamie Vardy is suspended its not. I dont think Vardy is a great player but without him how are Leicester going to open up the game? He stretches defences and creates space for midfielders on the ball and I cant see who will be able to replace that pace.I just dont see Leicester winning without Vardy, he is a massive, massive miss. Swansea will just play around halfway, suffocate the Foxes and come away with a point which will blow the title race wide open. PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (Sky Bet odds 5/1)Tottenham v West Brom - Monday Night Football, 8pm Fair play to West Brom, they got their 40 points on the board early doors ahead of an atrocious final run of fixtures. It starts with Spurs, who were outstanding at Stoke. It doesnt even pain me to see Spurs where they are at the moment, they are a very good team. Hopefully their success kicks Arsenal into gear. If this Tottenham team stays together and they get a couple more players theyll be favourites for the title next season. PAUL PREDICTS: 3-0 (Sky Bet odds 11/2)Sunderland v Arsenal - Super Sunday, 2.05pm I watched Arsenal on Sunday and it was one of the flattest performances Ive seen, they just went through the motions. It was so quiet at the Emirates that I heard Petr Cech shout keeper when clearing a ball. How is that possible in front of 60,000 people? Arsenal beat West Brom on Thursday, but they should have beaten Palace too. Sunderland, meanwhile, have picked up under Big Sam, winning at Norwich last week. I fancy them to edge closer to safety with a point, but they do need to score first. PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (Sky Bet odds 11/2)Man City v Stoke - Saturday, 12.45pm The problem with Man City is that you dont know which team is going to turn up. Will it be the one that won 3-0 at Chelsea or will it be the team that came off the pitch lucky to have earned a 1-1 draw with Newcastle? Stoke are on holiiday and you cannot play football with flip-flops on! Theyve done their hard work, though, theyre safe and you can understand that, particularly when a few players will be at the Euros.dddddddddddd I suspect Sergio Aguero will be rested as City will have one eye on the Champions League semi-final with Real Madrid, but I still expect them to win.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0 (Sky Bet odds 5/1)Aston Villa v Southampton - Saturday, 3pm What score do you want? I cant see anything other than a Southampton win. I felt sorry for Joleon Lescott in the week because his comments about relegation being a relief were not meant like that. He meant the club could concentrate on bouncing back next season, so a lot of the criticism he received was unwarranted. Villa should give the kids a chance and see what theyre like ahead of next season - see who can be kept and who cant.PAUL PREDICTS: 0-2 (Sky Bet odds 5/1)Bournemouth v Chelsea - Saturday, 3pm This is a hard game. Chelsea could have conceded six against Man City on Saturday, their season is over, theyve got players going to the Euros and they cant win a game. Im not sure which way the game will go but I expect a game full of goals, with Bournemouth needing to bounce back from their defeat to Liverpool.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-2 (Sky Bet odds 12/1)Liverpool v Newcastle - Saturday, 3pm I was impressed with Newcastle against Man City, they were good. Liverpool keep on getting better and better under Jurgen Klopp and they put Everton to the sword in the derby. I fancy Liverpool here but, with a Europa League semi-final with Villarreal coming up, they may rest players - that said they still turn in decent performances when they do change their team. This is where luck in the relegation fight comes in because if Liverpool were challenging for the top four they would play a full-strength side, and that may help Newcastles cause. I expect Liverpool to just earn the win but I wouldnt be surprised if its a draw.PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 7/1) Midweek predictions Result Merses prediction Newcastle 1-1 Man City 0-2 Liverpool 4-0 Everton 3-0 Arsenal ?-? West Brom 3-0 FA Cup semi-finalsEverton v Man Utd - Saturday, 5.15pm I dont see how Roberto Martinez can last if he loses at Wembley. He has got things horribly wrong this week. He should have played his strongest team and won against Southampton and then told fans he had to rest everyone against Liverpool in preparation for the semi-final. Instead he rested everyone against Southampton and got booed off and then played his best team against Liverpool and got battered. For the first time he looked lost on the sidelines, the fans have turned and I dont see how he can hold on if they lose. I felt sorry for him but its a situation of his own making, this is a good team that is nowhere. United will win at Wembley, I cant see Everton stopping them. Marcus Rashford is some player and his goal against Villa was as good as it gets - hell be a top-drawer player. Three months ago you would have backed Everton to win this game all day long, not now.PAUL PREDICTS: 1-2 (Sky Bet odds 15/2)Crystal Palace v Watford - Sunday, 4pm I fancy Palace here, theyve just got the edge over Watford. Deeney, who missed a penalty at West Ham, and Ighalo have gone quiet recently and confidence at the club cant be great. When the game starts to open up Palace have got more match winners for and I expect them to just edge a tight contest.PAUL PREDICTS: 1-0 (Sky Bet odds 6/1)PLAY SUPER 6!Theres another £250,000 jackpot up for grabs in the latest round of the Soccer Saturday Super 6 game. All you have to do is predict the scores of the six selected matches. Its free to play so get your entries in before 3pm GMT on Saturday for the chance to win.PLAY NOW...Also See:Premier League predictorYour teams strength and weaknessRace for the top fourPlay Super 6 ' ' '