LOL: My talent is top-tier, my professional skills are unparalleled.

Chapter 170 Salary Increase Frenzy! A Frenzied Spending Spree to Attract Talent!

In addition, LPL will start a league system in the S8 season, and each team will need to select its own home stadium and pay a deposit of 30 million!
This hefty deposit is essentially an entry ticket to the LPL region, designed to keep out small business owners and welcome large capital firms with substantial funds.

Only by doing so can the commercialization of the alliance be further advanced, and only by fully capitalizing on all members can the industry take off.

Teams like Snake Esports are teams that have risen from the secondary league with investment from small owners, and their players are all high-value players.

Although they don't have an exaggerated reputation, their skills are quite remarkable. For example, the brothers Flandre and Crystal earn at most around five million a year.

With one or two decent foreign midfielders and junglers, Snake Esports only needs to spend ten to twenty million yuan a year.

The combined salaries of the entire team aren't even enough to cover the salaries of EDG's mid and bot lane carries. It would be painful for Snake Esports to spend an extra 30 million.

Of course, Snake Esports' owner is quite capable, and they were able to stay in Season 8, while smaller teams like IM and Dan were kicked out.

Teams in a similar situation to Snake Esports include IG, owned by Wang Sicong. Both of these owners still have enough money in their pockets to keep burning through cash.

However, as time went on, teams like IG and Snake couldn't afford to spend money on clubs with large financial backers like JD Gaming and Top Esports.

As for EDG, it's alright. Boss Zhu is a local capital tycoon. Compared to Wang Sicong, a rich second generation without a personal base, Zhu has much more money in his pocket.

Now, apart from teams like LGD and OMG that are planning to give up and drift away, the other dozen or so teams have all come to Wang Yao with offers.

The newly formed teams, in particular, were very enthusiastic about recruiting Wang Yao, offering him an annual salary and tactical role that were no less attractive than those offered by EDG.

After understanding his bid in the free market, Wang Yao called Abu to discuss it.

When Abu learned that JD.com was willing to offer over 30 million yuan for an independent live-streaming contract, even a seasoned veteran like him couldn't help but gasp.

This is absolutely outrageous! They're ruthless in their pursuit of people!

The offer from JD.com was already the limit EDG could give Wang Yao, but what's different is that JD.com could keep raising the price! That's insane, it's like an auction!

However, after calming down and thinking it over, Abu also understood Wang Yao's commercial value, which justified this exaggerated offer.

After all, the popularity boost from his first championship and FMVP is truly terrifying. At this moment, Wang Yao's popularity has already far surpassed that of Clearlove and Uzi, the "Pig-Dog Combination".

Any new team that gets Wang Yao will gain a huge amount of attention, which is much more cost-effective than simply spending money on marketing!

Of course, JD.com's ability to spend so much money is not only due to the strong financial backing of the conglomerate, but also because the LPL's league system has triggered a wave of salary increases for players.

The first wave of salary increases in the LPL occurred in S5, the year Samsung's ten players came to China. The influx of Korean players and the rise of live streaming platforms changed the salary structure of the players.

A player's salary typically consists of a base salary plus a live streaming contract. The live streaming contract is paid by the live streaming platform to the club, which then uses that money to make purchases.

This money also raised the players' base salary from a few thousand yuan in the early days to tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of yuan.

And now, the second wave of salary increases is just around the corner! The immense popularity of EDG's victory at the Bird's Nest has swept across the national esports market, and the LPL region has suddenly become a hot commodity in the eyes of countless capital giants.

Meanwhile, Wang Yao's pentakill with Draven in the finals also helped the viewership of this year's S7 World Championship break historical records.

With the domestic and international situation showing a thriving trend, the salary increase trend for esports players is unstoppable. Capital investors must pour money into the market in order to get a piece of the profit pie later.

"Wait a moment, don't rush to agree to them. In a few days, I will definitely get you a satisfactory answer!" Abu frowned slightly, but his tone remained firm.

It's understandable that Wang Yao has high demands, but EDG can actually afford it!

The return of funds in the real estate sector in 2017 was quite strong, and Mr. Zhu, the owner of Aide, has a substantial portfolio of businesses. These days, he has made a lot of money just from selling goods and marketing.

Of course, EDG Club now has to deal with more than just Wang Yao's contract; Mouse and Scout's contracts also need to be settled.

For a mercenary like Scout from LCK, winning the championship should at least warrant a price increase.

A mid-laner who can suppress top-tier players like Xiaohu, Xiye, and Rookie, shouldn't be worth ten million a year? A solo kill against Faker at Worlds, adding another two million wouldn't be unreasonable, right?
There are expenses everywhere. As the manager, Abu has too many tasks to do. EDG's salary cap will likely reach 100 million yuan next season!

This doesn't even include the coaching staff, the general manager, and the club management, plus the 30 million entry deposit and other expenses. All in all, it would come close to 200 million!
Although Mr. Zhu, the club's owner, certainly has money to burn, he should try to optimize salary expenses as much as possible, since it is his job as the club manager.

Thinking of this, Abu immediately called Boss Zhu of Ed and briefly explained Wang Yao's situation.

After a moment of silence, Mr. Zhu, the owner of the company on the other end of the phone, said firmly, "I don't care what happens to the others, but we must take Wang Yao down!"

The factory manager and Meiko's contracts have not yet expired, but the contracts of the starting five players have expired for Wang Yao, Li Nacan, and Mouse.

To be honest, before this, Edward Zhu really didn't expect these new teams to be so willing to spend money to build their teams.

"Okay! I understand!"

Manager Abu nodded. After figuring out the boss's intentions, the next tasks became much easier to carry out.

Abu originally planned to use a live streaming contract worth 20 million plus a 20/80 split to secure Wang Yao's contract renewal.

After all, a player who can earn a top salary of 20 million in S7 is truly one of a kind!

The annual salaries of Factory Director and Uzi this year are less than 10 million, but unexpectedly, other new teams are spending 25 million to poach players!
Fortunately, with the words of Boss Zhu from Aide, Abu can now draft a new contract for Wang Yao based on the offers from other teams and continue to compete with teams like JD Gaming, Suning, and Top Esports for the player.

Of course, we must always prepare for the worst. If Wang Yao is snatched up by another team, then EDG will have to activate the second transfer window plan.

That means promoting iboy from the bench, spending more money to keep Scout, and strengthening the top lane.

This means EDG will still be competitive in the new season, and qualifying for the World Championship shouldn't be a problem.

(End of this chapter)