Despite the ongoing nature of the 2024 season, strong consequences are already being planned for LPL teams: there will be another reduction in the salary cap. This move will significantly impact the Chinese league.
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LPL Salary Cap to be Halved after Worlds 2024
Following the conclusion of the LPL Summer Playoffs, the top four Chinese teams are gearing up for the 2024 League of Legends World Championship. Despite efforts to regain international success, LPL teams have faced strong competition from the LCK squads this year, with only Top Esports securing a win at the Esports World Cup.
As the Worlds Patch 14.18 brings forth various changes, the meta appears to not heavily favor LPL teams, excluding BLG, who have shown dominance throughout the season. It seems that other LPL teams may struggle to match the consistency of the top LCK seeds.
While the World Championship is yet to take place, many teams are already planning for the upcoming season, especially in the LPL. The departure of superstar players like TheShy and Uzi, alongside underwhelming performances from veteran teams like RNG and EDward Gaming, has led to declining interest in the league.
Han Yi has announced that the LPL intends to halve the salary cap once again for the 2024 offseason. In a Weibo post, he mentioned that the reduction will exceed everyone’s expectations.
The salary cap serves as a mechanism to prevent teams from overspending on top talents, thus bridging the gap between top teams and smaller squads while ensuring financial stability for all participants.
However, the presence of various taxes makes it challenging to build superteams, impacting the financial standing of esports organizations.
Pro players facing challenges in generating income outside of competition
A Weibo user, 恋恋红茶_244, highlighted that non-star players are earning significantly less, ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 RMB per month (equivalent to 3,800 to 12,714 EUR). This decrease in earnings compared to previous years is likely to worsen with the upcoming salary cap reduction.
Furthermore, players are finding it difficult to generate income from streaming and other ventures, emphasizing competitive play as the most stable income source. This trend may lead to players making comebacks. While benefiting team operations, this shift could hinder the LPL’s quest for a World Championship title, which has been elusive since 2021.
