T1 announces fanmeeting but sparks new wave of frustration
To prepare for the upcoming season, T1 announced one of the activities that fans of this team have always loved, which is the fanmeeting. Specifically, the event will take place after matches and this is an opportunity for fans to interact with their favorite players. However, in the new season, T1 announces a roster of 6 players and a new fanmeeting mechanism that has upset fans.
Specifically, from this year’s Regular Season, T1 will allow all 6 players to participate in the fanmeeting, but fans will have to draw lots right after the match ends, rather than having a pre-announced schedule as before. Because of this factor, many viewers have not hesitated to express their outrage in the comments under T1’s posts on social media platforms.
Right in South Korea, many fans are also furious: “They organize without any activities to counter the toxic opinions aimed at the players but still hold fanmeetings. They know that fans will always have comparisons, or prefer one player over another, but still want to completely ‘milk’ the fans’ money. Imagine traveling a long way to Seoul and not meeting your favorite player?”
Another opinion recounted an old experience: “Last year, I remember there was a case where the audience completely ignored one player and only focused on the player they liked. I can’t imagine what they will do this time, especially when T1 is constantly involved in drama and losing the trust of the audience.”
T1 is increasingly angering fans
It is agreed that criticizing players based on their appearance is very unreasonable. However, considering the professional aspects or issues related to the atmosphere within the team, fans have the right to prefer one player over another even if both are teammates. Even in traditional sports, this is completely normal. In fact, many football fans, while still loving a team, do not hesitate to dislike a player on that very team.
Therefore, it is impossible to force fans to like all 6 players. And it is almost certain that T1 will continue to face criticism, for example, when fans draw a player they don’t really want to interact with after traveling a long distance, even spending tens of millions to come from another country to wait for T1’s fanmeeting at LCK.