Blacklist International owner Tryke Gutierrez admitted that the decision to sell his team's franchise slot in the Mobile Legends Professional League PH was not an easy one to make.

In an exclusive interview with the DAILY TRIBUNE, Gutierrez iterated that he had to take into consideration the long-term plans of Tier One Entertainment before making the move.

"It was tough, it was not easy. At the end of the day, this is something that I am personally a fan of. Some people vilify me because they do not see me every time and they do not see all the works that happen behind the scenes," Gutierrez said.

"We at Tier One Entertainment had done difficult decisions in the past," he continued.

"The investment [MPL franchise fee] that was a very difficult decision too. We have to make the difficult decisions despite what people see today. My job, the top management's job, is not to just look at today, we have to look at tomorrow."

Speculations about the organization's sustainability had spread like wildfire even before Blacklist International officially announced the sale of its MPL slot. One of them was that the company had lost significant money through its now-dissolved DOTA 2 team, Blacklist Rivalry.

Gutierrez dismissed the rumors as baseless.

"That was far-fetched. It was just not. It was just impossible. It does not work that way in business. The expenses for DOTA 2 were from a different branch. I can say to be clear, Rivalry and Predator supported the cost of our Blacklist Rivalry team," he stressed.

"That is it. So that was not true at all. Predator and Rivalry were there to support us even before the team was created. They gave us the resources to find and support the players in terms of everything."

Despite Blacklist International's departure from MPL—having earned a legacy as one of the greatest teams in local esports, winning three MPL championships and the M3 World Championship—Gutierrez is not ruling out a return in the future.

"If the timing is right, one hundred percent [we are going back]. I believe in the Mobile Legends community, we left a great mark and legacy in the space and I am not undervaluing that," Gutierrez said.

"This is the right time to reassess our position. However, the potential to come back will always excite me if the timing is right."