Despite the 2024 season not ending yet, strong consequences are already planned for LPL teams: there will be another reduction in the salary cap. Here’s what it entails for the Chinese league.
Image Credit: TJ Sports
With the LPL Summer Playoffs finally over, the top four Chinese teams are getting ready for the 2024 League of Legends World Championship. After failing to win the trophy last year, the LPL has been looking to fight international success back this year but aside from a win by Top Esports at the Esports World Cup, the LCK teams have looked stronger so far.
And with the several changes coming to the Worlds Patch 14.18, the meta doesn’t seem to heavily favor LPL teams. Aside from BLG who have looked dominant throughout the season, it seems like other LPL teams might not have the same level of consistency to fight the top LCK seeds.
While the World Championship has yet to take place, many teams are already making plans for the upcoming season, especially the LPL given the higher number of teams and the not-so-optimal competitive environment. Many of the super stars like TheShy and Uzi have left, and some of the old guards like RNG and EDward Gaming have disappointed this year, causing a decreasing interest in the scene.
In addition to this, Han Yi has revealed that the LPL is planning to half the salary cap once again for the 2024 offseason. According to a post on Weibo, he stated that “the reduction in the salary cap will be beyond everyone’s expectations”.
The salary cap was an implemented measure to prevent big teams from overspending to secure top-tier talents and create a big gap between the top teams and the smaller squads while also ensuring strong financial stability for all participants.
The downside, however, is that it will be harder to build superteams due to the presence of several taxes which will inevitably impact an esports team’s financial situation.
Another Weibo user, 恋恋红茶_244, has talked about non-star players making from 30,000 to 100,000 RMB per month (equivalent to 3,800 to 12,714 EUR). This is much lower than what players used to make in the previous years, and given the further reduction, the number will go down even further.
Additionally, the user also stated that players are struggling to make money from streaming and other side hustles, making competitive the most stable income stream, which is why many players are looking to make a comeback. While it will definitely allow teams to have more stable operations, this will negatively impact the LPL’s chances of bringing back a World Championship title, which has been missing since the end of 2021.
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