How come Dota 2 has a prize pool of 18 MILLION pounds (usd for you) and LoL doesn't?
LoL makes a lot more money than Dota, so how come their prize pool is what, 8 times higher?
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Valve and Riot are two different companies.
Valve needs to have their players chip in for their prize pool, since most of the money raised also goes towards the development of the game. The $18 million raised for the prize pool also means $54 million for the company (25% of all sales went to the pool, the rest went to pay salaries and game development on all the promised features in the compendium and levels). While it's more of a prestige note to say "Our champs take home more money," if anything negative happens to DotA then next year's pool might not be as high.
On the other hand, Riot's not one to have their hands tied with promises and guarantees. Replay system, Yorick's rework, Magma Chamber, Ao Shin and many other examples of Riot making promises and not being able to keep them. They'll do what they want, when and how quickly they want, and kiss off if you don't like it.
Now, imagine if Riot actually asked for help from the community, promising ten things if we met certain criteria. If they turned around, 8 months after Worlds, and said "We can't deliver on promises 4, 6 and 9," then no matter what they say in the announcement, it's all over for Rito.
TI gets its prize money from Compendium sells I believe, something that League simply doesn't do. LCS is a net loss for Riot. Yes Riot makes more, but that is from RP sales not LCS.
Dota only gives money through the prize pool to the victor (and maybe the runner up? not sure on that). All the other teams that compete don't get any compensation. League's grand prize is smaller, but only the bottom two or four teams walk away with nothing. Giving weaker teams incentive to play creates a more sustainable competitive environment.
LCS players get a regular salary.
It's crowdfunded. Player buys a special item (called The Compendium) for real money and I believe 25% of these sales go to the International.
In return the purchasers receive various account benefits.
Added benefit, just turned these kids into millionaires.
LCS winner prolly doesn't make that much seeing their prize pools are lower and they have to split it with their sponsors and coaches.