NRG CEO says League team’s amount of staff is “probably unsustainable”

NRG Esports have made a return to League of Legends esports and in turn, inherited a bloated staff compared to other North American teams. The organization’s CEO spoke in a recent interview about NRG’s return to the esport and run to Worlds 2023.

NRG Esports were eliminated from the League of Legends World Championship in the Knockout Stage of the event by Weibo Gaming. The team had a rollercoaster of a season when it was acquired by NRG Esports, as CLG’s parent company sold off its slot in the league, between the Spring and Summer Seasons.

Despite the new ownership, the players managed to win the LCS 2023 Championship and qualify for Worlds as the No. 1 seed from the league. Many attributed NRG’s success in the summer and playoffs to their large coaching staff.

The team has seven coaches, some positional and strategic, and two analysts. The LCS No. 2 seed for Worlds, Cloud9, has four coaches on its staff with one listed as a position and strategic coach.

NRG Esports CEO talks current League staff

In a recent interview with Dot Esports ahead of the team’s final Worlds 2023 series, NRG founder and CEO Andy Miller talked about how he hopes to win fans over after their bombastic reentrance into the scene.

“There was a whole group of people who hated us,” Miller told Dot. “And it’s like, ‘OK, they’re angry. I don’t blame them, they’re fans. I’d love to win them over. But if we lose them, then, you know, whatever, we’ll have NRG fans.’ We’re in this for the long run.”

Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games

The NRG head also spoke on the current staff and roster of the team, implying that the team’s current staff might not be the same size come next season.

“We have a lot of coaches, probably unsustainable, but they are well prepared,” Miller said.

Esports as a whole is experiencing a correction in terms of salaries, and the amount of employees hired by companies. This has caused many teams to downsize their spending and layoff, or not retain, certain staff members.

While coaches cost less to employ than players, NRG’s large behind-the-scenes staff might see a reduction in size for the 2024 LCS season.