Esports organization Ninjas in Pyjamas have secured the European League Championship Series slot previously owned by Fnatic Academy, sources close to both organizations told ESPN.
The Ninjas in Pyjamas organization will replace the entire lineup on the team. The team will field SK Telecom T1 top laner Kim "Profit" Jun-hyung, former Team Vitality jungler Ilyas "Shook" Hartsema, former KT Rolster mid laner Kim "Nagne" Sang-moon, Giants Gaming AD carry Martin "HeaQ" Kordmaa, and former Paris Saint-Germain support Hampus "sprattel" Mikael Abrahamsson, sources close to the players and team told ESPN. Sources also say the team will be coached by former Fnatic head coach Nicholas "NicothePico" Korsgaard.
The Ninjas in Pyjamas organization secured the spot after a bidding war against several parties, most notably Overwatch organization Laser Kittenz. According to sources close to that team, Laser Kittenz initially secured the winning bid but was unable to field a roster it was comfortable competing with after it was unable to secure Newbee mid laner Shin "Coco" Jin-yeong, who asked for a significant amount of money. That caused the team to pull its bid.
The sale rounds out the 10 European League Championship Series teams after both Fnatic Academy and Misfits Academy were forced to sell because Riot Games' rule set now doesn't allow sister teams. Misfits Academy recently sold to Mysterious Monkeys for around $400,000, sources told ESPN.