Uncle Sam: League of Legends pros are pro athletes

"The United States government recognizes League of Legends pro players as professional athletes, and awards visas to essentially work in the United States under that title," Riot e-sports manager Nick Allen tells Gamespot.

Allen says that international tourney organization is now much easier, though getting the initial batch of visas was a "lengthy process" that required a lot of legwork in order to provide enough proof to satisfy government officials.