Do Or Die: Life Inside the RTC
By Tina Kelce
It’s a basketball league shrouded in mystery and controversy, but backed by a passionate and growing band of followers who call it “the future of the sport”.
Now, after a months-long investigation, the true story behind the Run the Court League.
Oftentimes, it’s an exercise in futility to try to point to a single event as the impetus for a massive change in the way things operate. Rather, as most historians will tell you, it’s a cascade of events, gaining momentum like a rolling snowball, that opens the door for such transformational changes. And that seems to be precisely the case for the most controversial sports league in recent history, Run the Court, a league that some have recently begun calling the greatest threat to The Organization of International Basketball and the other professional leagues that have dominated the sports landscape for over a century.
It was the players. They did it to themselves.
“It was the players- their selfishness, their push for control. They did it to themselves,” says the person identified only by their screen name, BG503. The self-described “RTC Superfan” hosts a website that serves as the greatest wealth of information on the secretive league, as well as the go-to resource for fans. “I was a huge fan of the Organization, but when the players took all that power from the owners and the superteams took over, the OIB stopped focusing on the product it put on the floor for fans. They started to think only of how they could appease the players and keep them happy. The product became watered down. Guys were sitting out games, playing like they didn’t care about the outcome of games, spending more time hobnobbing with buddies than competing against them. That’s what opened the door for RTC.”
It’s a sentiment that is widely shared, particularly amongst the most devout fans of the RTC League. Online, message boards and chat rooms are filled with scathing criticisms of the “spoiled, primadonna athletes” of the Organization, and critics cling to the idea that athletes are more focused today on establishing their brands and business interests than they are excelling at their respective crafts. “If you ask me to sum it up, I think most people that turned to the RTC felt the OIB started to feel sterile and tired,” adds BG503. “A lot of fans felt betrayed by the players. Fans wanted rivalries and conflicts, personalities and trash talk, even the occasional fight. But between the management mandates, the media narratives, and the endorsement money...the league got conservative. Scared. In a word, boring.”
But many claim there was more that laid the foundation for the RTC than the fans’ disapproval of the more commercial-friendly brand of basketball the league has put forth in recent years.
We all know it was the money.
There was a time when betting on sporting events was illegal in all but a handful of territories. Ask your grandparents about it. They’ll tell you of an industry dominated by a handful power-wielders, and while they will probably concede that event outcomes were sometimes manipulated in those days, they will likely tell you that the number of such instances paled in comparison to the scope of what the sports world witnessed just five years ago, immediately before the decision was made to outlaw betting on almost all professional sports leagues.
“The Reckoning”, as it has since come to be known, was the most widespread and notorious example of sports manipulation in history. It upended the sports industry and thrust a shadow of doubt upon the legitimacy of nearly every professional sporting event of the previous decade. The revelation that league officials had been influencing, at times even determining, the outcomes of contests led hordes of fans to denounce sports and turn to other forms of entertainment. The leagues suffered immensely.
And some would claim an opportunity was born.
“Let’s not lie to ourselves. We all know it was the money. When we outlawed sports betting on Organization contests in order to protect the integrity of our sport, someone out there saw an opportunity to fill that void,” claims the President of the Organization of International Basketball. “We didn’t just outlaw betting on our games because of The Reckoning. I had been fighting for quite some time to pass such regulations because we believe gambling to be a great threat to the people of our world. This is not some innocent hobby, but an addiction with the potential to devastate entire families. Unfortunately, it seems there are others out there that are more concerned with lining their own pockets than protecting the livelihoods of their fellow human beings.”
It’s a dogfight. Only with people.
For those who don’t know much about RTC, the rules are relatively straight-forward. Players compete in 1v1 and 2v2 contests in an effort to accumulate points. These points determine the player’s status on the Season Leaderboard, in what amounts to a race to qualify for the Season Championship. While many players play in one-off contests, they have the potential to earn more points by participating in single-elimination tournaments, where a winning team or individual is crowned the champion of the tournament. Made shots count as either one or two points and the winner of games is the first team to score eleven points with a two-point lead. If no team can take a two-point lead, the first team to score fifteen points wins.
It’s a unique format to say the least, but this is far from the only distinct aspect of RTC. The primary source of controversy, as well as the lion’s share of criticism, stems from the lack of player protections provided by the league. Unlike the Organization’s players, competitors in the RTC are given no contracts. They receive no guaranteed money (player compensation is based on a percentage of the bets placed on the player’s contests as well as any tournament prize winnings). In most cases, players are responsible for managing their own injuries.
In short, each player is on his or her own, playing each game to prove themselves, competing each time out for their livelihoods.
“This is dogfighting, pure and simple,” says one outspoken critic of the RTC who asked to remain anonymous. “You force the stakes so high that the subject has almost no option but to win or perish. That’s what the people that run dogfighting rings do- they make it so that the stakes are do or die. And that is what the people behind the RTC are doing. It’s dogfighting, only with people.”
But BG503 disagrees. “It’s such a reckless comparison to throw around. Those dogs don’t have any options. They’re forced to fight. And they really have to win or they are probably going to die. RTC is nothing like that. These players won’t literally be shot and killed if they lose a game. They just won’t make any money. And it’s not like these players don’t have other options. We all have options. Nobody’s forcing anyone to play. They’re choosing to play in this league.”
While BG503’s point seems fair on the surface, and the RTC naysayer’s stance is admittedly an extreme one, a quick dive into the backgrounds of a handful of last season’s RTC players reveals that, for most RTC participants, income-earning options are limited.
Case in point, Lance Freehold, a competitor in last season’s RTC that finished just inside the Top 50 on the Leaderboard. According to BG503’s website, Freehold was a standout high school player who was recruited by several Top 25 college programs. Unfortunately, when his mother fell ill, Freehold made the tough decision to drop out of school to care for her. The story didn’t end well. Despite Freehold’s best efforts, after two years, his mother surrendered to her disease, and Freehold, without a college degree and now almost 20 years of age, was disregarded by most of the top programs that had recruited him. Then came an arrest for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. While Freehold managed to plead down the case, claiming the pain medication in his possession was his late mother’s, the charge was enough to scare off the handful of colleges that had broached the possibility of signing Freehold upon his receipt of a G.E.D. According to Freehold, that left him with only two options- turning to the streets or signing up for the RTC.
BG503 claims it was an obvious choice for someone like Freehold. “The RTC is giving people a chance to make money doing what they love. It’s a league that’s giving players a second chance, something the risk-averse Organization isn’t willing to do,” he says. “Freehold didn’t graduate high school and he isn’t yet 21, so he wouldn’t even be eligible to play in the Organization. Who’s the real bad guy here? And what about the fact that the Organization doesn’t let women compete. This RTC is giving women the opportunity to prove they can play with the guys.”
The counter from the Organization- BG503’s claim is absurd. “The RTC is well-known to exploit the circumstances of individuals in jeopardy. They don’t offer opportunities to these people, they take advantage of them and capitalize on their past mistakes,” said one higher-up in the Organization who spoke on condition of anonymity.
And as for BG503’s points about providing opportunities to women and to athletes who don’t have high school degrees? “Our requirement that players be 21 or have two college seasons under their belt is something we put in place to protect players, whose minds and bodies are not developed enough for the opportunities presented by professional sports. That decision was made for the sake of our players, many of whom would not have otherwise been equipped for success. And the Organization’s Women’s division offers opportunities for female players and we have been lauded for our efforts to support the Women’s division. These claims are just the efforts of the RTC to change the narrative and position themselves to attract talent.”
Elitism at its most absurd.
There is one other element of the RTC that lends itself to those who believe the league has been designed to exploit those with few options, and that is the league’s elite audience. RTC seasons are more than one-off events that families and friends can attend for entertainment on a night out. They are instead highly-produced, exclusive getaways designed for the jet-set crowd. Those who are invited to attend season events (yes, you have to be invited, though it’s unclear how one earns the right) must not only travel to the events, which are often held in exotic locations on awe-inspiring, one-of-a-kind courts, but must also commit to betting a minimum amount on RTC games during their stay.
“It seems creepy to me,” writes one critic who goes by CattyXWX online. “Here are these rich people, flying off to exotic locales, getting comped food and drinks, all while they watch a bunch of desperate athletes compete for what is petty cash to them. It’s disgusting if you ask me.”
Another shares the sentiment. “We don’t even know who runs this league. They’re operating from the shadows. I promise you the Illuminati is out there pulling the strings, making people dance around and compete for the entertainment of the rich and powerful. It’s twisted. Elitism at its most absurd.”
It’s basketball in its purest form.
“I understand all the arguments,” starts BG503. “Believe me, I’ve heard it all. But at the end of the day, RTC offers the kind of basketball that most basketball fans love. The stakes are high, unlike in the Organization where there are no stakes anymore. Three-quarters of those guys don’t care about winning. They just want to stay healthy so they can make as much money as possible. The competition is fierce in the RTC, and meaning wins something.”
When asked if winning might mean too much, BG503 seemed to almost concede the point. “It’s possible, but in the Organization it means nothing. On blacktops around the world, players are competing for a shot at something. They play like every shot and every game matters, because they do. You don’t get scholarship offers if you don’t play like that. You don’t make it to the professional ranks. For many, you never get out of your neighborhood. This is basketball in its purest form, the way it was meant to be played. And I don’t have a problem with that.”
So what is the verdict on the Run The Court League? Is it a league that provides a last chance opportunity for some of the world’s most talented athletes or a shady business venture exploiting the physical talents and unfortunate circumstances of a collection of individuals with few options for survival? (And could those same questions be asked about the OIB?)
Is the RTC the last bastion of basketball in its purest and most exciting form? A response to the heavily manufactured, sterile, and potentially outdated OIB? Or is it a league that cares nothing about its players, nothing more than a means by which an oligarchy can take back the power it once held?
Is it the future of sports or a call-back to a model that was abandoned long ago for good reason? Is it a healthy competitor to the OIB, forcing the Organization to change for the better, or an unsustainable sideshow destined for failure?
Is it a force for good or a force for evil?
The answer it seems...is yes.