I make more money than NA pros without a salary or long-term sponsorship.

Still looking into this, still disappointed. As of 2018, this article claims the average LCS salary for NA is around $320,000 US. The seasonal prize pools last year sat around $250,000 US, and Worlds winnings were $6,450,000 US. Those are split between five players, with cuts taken off by management and the like. I can't find any hard numbers on what individual players will make from sponsorships.

Now take my competitive play over the past four years. I'm not going to factor side tournaments like Tekken, because it's no longer my primary gaming income, but I do still compete now and again. Instead I'll look at Tsukiten.

Stable Income: $695,000 For sitting in the top 5, each member of my six-person squad earns 0.2% of all broadcast, ticket, and merchandising profits in and around Tsukiten. Last year, that amounted to 22,530,471,070円, or roughly $208.4 million USD, which was just under $695,000 for each of us, and it's risen steadily to the tune of about a million yen (around $10,000) every year for the four years we've kept our spot. We continue earning this, without anything cut off the top, no negotiations required, as long as we remain among the top 5 squads. This is the big incentive to play hard during the year (apart from pride), as the Worlds equivalent actually starts you out in worse shape the better you do during the season.

Sub-Tournament Winnings: $84,100 to $2,256,000 Every year, Tsukiten hosts 12 major sub-tournaments. The winnings last year ranged from 9,100,000円 to an impressive 244,000,000円 for the biggest sub-tournament, Shingetsu Taikai. (Me sharing a name is incidental; the word translates to "new moon", and I chose it for my name for a completely unrelated reason.) We managed to win Shingetsu Taikai both of the last two years, as well as five others last year: Shinkyū Taikai (10,000,000円), Wild Fang (126,470,000円), Kotsuniku (99,520,000円), Kagemura Taikai (42,650,000円), Red Moon (100,000,000円), and Makigari (15,500,000円). Altogether, last year's sub-tournament winnings amounted to 638,140,000円 for the squad. I got 20% of this as one of the two most veteran players on the squad, which added up to 127,628,000円, or $1,180,430 or so.

Invitational Tournament Winnings: $515,000 Invitationals are sporadic. They're basically dreamed up on a whim every year and usually feature special rules that all participants have to adapt to on the fly. Because of that, I can't really offer a solid range for winnings from this style of tournament. I can say however, that our squad won two of the four tournaments we were invited to last year, and they won me 55,600,000円 after dividing with my squad, which equates to almost $515,000.

Coaching Bonuses: $4,600 In Tsukiten, active players will often coach other players by simply playing with them in casual modes and improving their skills. Senku, the parent company of the developer, will guarantee this up to 1,200円 per hour of coaching to prevent scams that consume a pro player's time unnecessarily, but I've only heard of them having to do so twice. Last year, I charged a couple players 800円 per hour of actual gameplay and discussion for coaching four... roughly a month a piece? It earned me around 500,000円, which amounts to around $4,600 USD. (Note that I don't charge very much compared to other pros, as I don't have the time to really dedicate to clients. I try to juggle too many things... There's a guy on a rival squad, WhiteMemo, who dedicates more time and charges something like 2,500円 per hour; about $23 USD.)

Advertising Sponsorships: $1,035,000 I did a couple short ads for Tsukiten, as well as a TV ad for Resort Shōja, worth 58,520,000円 between the two of them. Onnaiko Magazine wanted me for an ad shot as well, and they gave me 663,000円 for it. Finally, I did a series of online ads with my squad for Club Netoge that earned me personally 52,690,000円 when you add all the ads up. I may or may not have been approached by a host club to do some billboard photos. I would have turned those down if I were. Truly. Ahem, in any case... Adding these together, I personally earned 111,873,000円 for advertising last year. This equates to about $1,035,000 USD - and I didn't even have to wear a shirt covered in logos!

Oseibo: $185,000 Senku offers pro players an end-of-year gift to thank them for their part in the company's business. Rewards are based on individual rank at the end of the year. Last year, I was considered second in the world (I'll catch you, Zenkyōkan! (งಠ_ಠ)ง) and was awarded a bonus of 20,000,000円, which is just short of $185,000 USD. First place gets 35,000,000円, while the vast majority (anyone below the top 20) receive only 10,000円. The company claims this value may fall depending on how the game is doing, but these have been the gift values for the past four years, so it's holding steady.

Idai Kaisen: $2,370,000 Idai Kaisen is basically worlds for Tsukiten. It's the "big one"; the tournament to end all tournaments. The top 32 squads (which is almost all the squads, to be honest) get a chance to compete, seeded based on their rankings for the year, but seeds don't decide where you get placed on a tree. Instead, the decide where you spawn. Teams with higher rankings spawn in less advantageous positions, forcing them to scavenge more actively and construct their own fortifications, or claim indestructible fortifications from lower-ranking teams. Idai Kaisen is what the game calls a kessen-style tournament (some of the sub-tournaments follow this format as well). Every participating squad is put out on the same huge map. In Idai Kaisen, permadeath rules are in place; once a player dies, he's out of the game. It's that crazy.

The payoff is big though. That kind of tournament, with all the best in one place, on the same battlefield, draws a lot of viewership. Viewership means sponsorship, and sponsorship means big prize pools. We managed to attain the grand prize of 1,280,520,000円 last year. I again got 20% for being one of the two veterans, as is custom, and it came to 256,104,000円 or almost $2,370,000 USD.

Final Total for 2018: $5,985,030 (approximated)

Granted, last year was a very good year for me. However, compare this to Faker's net worth which was estimated around $1.5 million in 2016. I made around five times that in one year! I can only attribute this to one of a few things. Either...

A. Riot is extremely stingy. B. Having to give overhead to managers, agents, and others is SEVERELY cutting into a League player's bottom line. C. Esports just aren't that popular abroad (although that shouldn't explain Faker's situation, unless League is all he plays professionally). D. There's just not a lot of money in LCS.

Whatever the case, it's extremely unfortunate. League has been a strong voice in the realm of esports for how long now? Yet still, LCS players are making incredibly little. Even lesser known athletes in other major sports in America make hundreds of millions, don't they? You would think LCS could do better for its players than $320,000... With League alone raking in around $2.1 billion per year, why do LCS players get so little even today?