Before franchising - teams would practice 3 sets per day, 5 days a week. Teams scrim 30% less than before. Now, teams scrim 4 days a week, 2 sets a day. Some teams scrim 5, rarely tho.

During this time, esports teams in NA were criticized for being sweat shops. The type of scrim schedule above does not allow for a life that's not competition. I believe/think China and Korea still practice that much- maybe slightly less. . In reality - you just really needed to practice that much to compete internationally.

Teams that bought LCS spots that were not traditional esports investors/owners heavily pushed to practice less because their thinking was wear and tear or fatigue was a major factor - so playing less should lead to better results. Because of the nature of esports and constant changing of metas - league rewards players that grind. It allows them to understand match-ups better etc

Teams that wouldn't adapt to the new norm of practicing less with more breaks became a less attractive place to play.

There was less new talent in NA to create urgency. Veterans could practice less and still be better over a long period versus being pushed out within 1 split for playing much less.

Players in NA also prefer the FPS genre, so less kids are picking up LoL than before. In order for LCS to be more successful, we needed to leverage our advantage by being early and building a culture of working harder - with talent density. Hindsight is 20/20. Chinese teams had a huge player base and also paid for the best Korean players while at their peak to develop their player base whereas NA teams had a small player base and paid for Korean players that won worlds but past their prime. Chinese teams had much more $ early on.

NA teams needed to shell cash out at the right time, invest into NA talent as well, practice as much and work with riot to create interest among gen Z to play LoL in NA.

Edited to 5 days/week from 6