FENNEL acquires the LoL division of professional esports team Rascal Jester

FENNEL, a Japanese professional esports team with Apex Legends and VALORANT divisions, announced on Monday, September 5, 2022, the acquisition of the League of Legends (LoL) division of Rascal Jester, a professional esports team owned by THIRDWAVE CORPORATION.

賞金1500万円！プロeスポーツチーム「FENNEL」荒野行動部門“Mantis”が「2022荒野CHAMPIONSHIP - 栄光の刻」で優勝！

What is FENNEL?

PR TIMES

FENNEL is a Japanese professional esports team established in 2019.
Team divisions include Knives Out, Apex Legends, VALORANT, and PUBG, with approximately 60 players.
The Apex division has won the Japan and Asia tournaments, and will compete in the championship in July 2022, among many other achievements.
It also has one of the largest gaming bases in Japan in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, and is developing its tournament management and apparel businesses with the mission of "Enthusiastic for eSports.".

FENNEL acquires LoL division of professional esports team Rascal Jester

PR TIMES

Rascal Jester is one of the top-ranked professional esports teams in Japan, taking third place in the 2021 LJL Spring League and second place in the Summer League.
FENNEL and THIRDWAVE had signed a sponsorship agreement from January 2021, and both parties were aiming for "more global success for Japanese players and more development of the Japanese e-sports scene", and THIRDWAVE side had the e-sports Third Wave had a desire to sponsor an e-sports team.

On the other hand, FENNEL had a plan to strengthen its team business and enter the League of Legends Japan League (LJL) with its LoL division, a globally popular game with a long tradition of competition, and both parties' intentions matched, leading to this amicable acquisition.

FENNEL says that it decided to make this acquisition with an eye to the next five to ten years, and FENNEL representative Maxim Hotta(@MaximusHotoke) explains the background to the acquisition.

LoL is a globally popular game title with over 100 million players worldwide.
Professional leagues have been established in 14 countries and regions around the world, and the number of simultaneous viewers for the Worlds tournament held in 2019 reached a whopping 70 million. 13 years after the service was launched, the popularity of the game has not waned, and it has led the esports scene since its early days.
FENNEL, which plans to enter the LJL next season, will work to win the LJL, the official professional league in Japan, which is expected to become more competitive, and to surpass the top 16 in the Worlds.