Faker's salary reportedly larger than entire LCK teams
According to a recent report on the Korean site NAVER, Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok's salary matches that of the entirety of the Gen.G squad. That's right, while the whole Gen.G roster gets paid roughly 6 million USD, Faker gets paid the same amount.
Naturally, having a name like Faker on your team brings a myriad of benefits for T1 even outside of the rift. Being the greatest League of Legends players of all time, and perhaps even greatest esports athlete we've ever seen, Faker brings T1 enough attention from all directions to warrant the high salary through sponsors, merchandise and more.
After winning a record-high four World Championships for T1, it seems the team is now paying Faker for his dedication as much as his skills on the rift.
Faker won his fourth League of Legends World Championship with T1 just last year, and will look to repeat the feat in 2024. (Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)Gen.G dominate on a budget
As for Gen.G, it is surprising that one of the most dominant teams in LCK history is not even among the highest costing squads in the league. Word on the street is that star jungler Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu was willing to take a big pay cut when he joined the team at the end of last year.
Hanwha Life, in turn, carried out a large investment at the end of 2023 in order to put up a roster ready to contend in 2024. With HLE upsetting Gen.G to win the LCK Summer trophy, I think it's safe to say the investment is paying off.
Below is a list of how much each of the top LCK teams reportedly pays for their squad in 2024. Keep in mind that these numbers are rough estimates and not exact figures.
- T1: 10 billion won (~7.5 million USD) - Though reports also point to numbers as high as ~$11.3 million USD
- Hanwha Life: 10 billion won (~7.5 million USD)
- Gen.G: 7-8 billion won (~5.3-6 million USD)
- Dplus KIA: 6 billion won (~4.5 million USD)
- KT Rolster: 3 billion won (~2.3 million USD)
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Image source: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
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