After a discussion ignited online about whether or not League of Legends player salaries should be public, one League Challenger Series team has taken the initiative.
Newly formed North American side Ember, who acquired the spot formerly occupied by Cloud9 Tempest, has become the first organization to publicly reveal player salaries.
As part of a statement by Ember CEO Jonathan Pan, the team has disclosed how much their new lineup will be banking. At the top of the list is midlaner Greyson “Goldenglue” Gilmer who will earn $65,000 in salary with a further $27,000 in performance and signing bonuses. Top laner Colin “Solo” Earnest is also clearing $65,000 in salary with $21,000 in added bonuses.
AD carry Benjamin DeMunck is earning $75,000 in total, with $72,500 and $70,000 for Nicolar “GleebGlarbu” Haddad and Jaun “Contractz” Garcia.
According to Pan the team has their players on payroll as employees rather than contractors, meaning that the players do not have to pay their own taxes. The team also offers health insurance.
While many have applauded the move towards transparency, the disclosure has caused a number of concerns.
According to industry insiders, the salaries are inflated beyond the market level for the NA Challenger scene, and are more than some League Championship Series level players.
Advocates for salary disclosure have cautiously welcomed the statement, but have expressed concern that this limited disclosure without the context of wider salary information may give a skewed picture of the market value of these players.
Salary disclosure is a debate which has blown wide open over the past few days, and while Ember’s intervention might be a step in the right direction it could well have complicated things even further.
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr | Remix by Jacob Wolf
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