League of Legends content creator and interviewer Travis Gafford took to social media to set the record straight on whether he applied to be the commissioner of the LCS or not.
The LCS announced its new commissioner, former LCS caster and analyst Mark Zimmerman, on December 12. The league’s previous commissioner, Jackie Felling, resigned from the role during the middle of the League esports season on April 11.
Zimmerman previously worked as a League of Legends coach and was a co-host of the LoL esports talk show Hotline League along with Travis Gafford.
Following the announcement, two prominent actors in the League Esports space mentioned on social media that Gafford, a long-time content creator and interviewer for the LCS, also applied for the position and was beaten out by Zimmerman.
Gafford has since taken to social media to set the record straight on his interest in the position.
Travis Gafford explains LCS commissioner saga
The founder of H2K and the Director of The Black Lodge, Richard Wells, and investigative reporter Jacob Wolf said on social media that Gafford applied to be the head of the LCS.
“Travis applied last time it was open, before they recruited Jackie too,” Wolf said.
This is true. Travis applied last time it was open, before they recruited Jackie too. I am withholding judgement about Mark. He cares a lot so that’s a huge plus. Can’t speak either way to competency. He beat out a ton of very qualified and impressive candidates though. https://t.co/K6QPjZJu9x
— Jacob Wolf 🐝 (@JacobWolf) December 12, 2023
The post quickly caught on fire on Reddit as users debated whether Gafford was qualified for the job, and about whether this was news at all.
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“I’m not sure why anyone that cares about the LCS wouldn’t apply. Hell, I would’ve applied if I saw the opening. It would be hard to f**k up the LCS any more than it has been,” one user said.
Gafford addressed the rumor the next day on social media, saying that he never formally applied for the position.
I'm not sure where this rumor started, but I never formally applied for the commissioner position. In May of this year, long before the position formally opened, I spoke with a few folks in esports about my interest and Mark and I spoke about how we both wanted to apply. (Cont.) https://t.co/kForija6CS
— Travis Gafford (@TravisGafford) December 13, 2023
“In May of this year, long before the position formally opened, I spoke with a few folks in esports about my interest and Mark and I spoke about how we both wanted to apply,” Gafford said. “My interest in applying was born out of frustration with where the league was headed and a desire to be in a position to change a league I love for the better, which felt natural for me as a person who cares about this community.”
The creator goes on to say that he realized he still wanted to create content around both League and Magic: The Gathering and did not apply. However, he said that he eventually had people reach out to him saying that he was in the final round of names for the position last month.
“While my ego loves the idea that I made the final list of names for a job I didn’t even apply for, I find that unlikely. If I had to guess, my name was only still being discussed externally because of friends I shared my interest in the role with back at MSI and after,” he said.
He later said plainly after seeing the thread on Reddit that he never applied for the role, and that it has been “surreal to see people having huge conversations about events concerning me that never occurred.”