After weeks of behind-the-scenes work with game studio Riot Games, the players association for America’s VALORANT professionals has been unveiled.

The partnership was revealed today, with Taylor #tailored Broomall, a former TSM coach who is now a player agent, in charge of the initiative. The players association seeks to safeguard the VALORANT professionals while building positive ties with Riot to advance esports and the players’ employment prospects.

Despite having a connection to Riot, the players’ group is not supported by the game’s developer and has no business relationships with Riot.

Down The Memory Lane

The association, which has been functioning since the first media reports were made on its formation in August, is made up of about 30 players and receives assistance from the LCS Players Association on the outside.

The alliance was established in response to the earlier this year revealed partnership-style arrangement for the VALORANT Champions Tour in 2019. The players had reservations about the significant transition from a pseudo-open structure to a franchise-like one.

However, the assessment praised the partnership between Riot and the VALORANT Americas PA as “healthy.”

Tailored will oversee the project after leaving Prodigy, perhaps the most well-known esports agency, which also represents KCORP player Adil #ScreaM Benrlitom and Sentinels star Tyson #TenZ Ngo. Several North American athletes were represented by Tailored, which also helped with sponsorship activations and constructive contract revisions.

The Association’s Impact

Phil Aram, executive director of the LCSPA, said of the hiring, “Before taking this post, Taylor was already pouring his heart into organizing VALORANT players even before the partner program was announced.” He can now devote himself to this job full-time and, with the help of the LCSPA, create long-overdue transformational strategies for player rights in the FPS industry.

Just for comparison’s sake, NBA formed a players’ union back in 1954, just eight years after the League’s creation. Even back then, they realized how important it was to have a legal entity representing the players, and what it can mean for their futures.

Although it may come a bit later, the Valorant players association is a great step towards building a sustainable legal frame for the future of not just Valorant professionals, but the whole esports industry.