The top player is one we all know and (maybe) love.
League of Legends has given out $42 million in prize money since 2010 (another article I wrote compares this to other eSports), and there are some players that definitely earn more than others. For example, SKT T1’s Faker has the highest earnings ever in League of Legends history, with over a million US dollars earned in total. Other members of SKT that have a top 25 spot are Bengi at #2, Wolf at #3, Bang at #4, and Blank at #6. The spot between Bang and Blank is taken up by Duke, mid laner for KT Rolster. Between Bang and Duke, there is a difference of over $300,000 in prize money given to the players.
Speaking of the top players, it’s worthwhile to note that all 8 of the top players are Korean, and that 5 of them are SKT’s current roster. In total, 19 of the top 25 players are Korean. The only other regions represented in the top 25 are China with 3, Taiwan with 2 and Hong Kong with 1. However, all three of these regions are parts of China, so truthfully, two regions are represented in the top 25 players. When we look at the top 5 countries, this is reflected. Korea is the top with a total of $15.5 million, China is #2 with $6.2 million, and Taiwan has $3 million total. The United States falls below that with $2.3 million, and Denmark of all countries is #5 with $1.1 million. The reason Denmark falls so low is likely because the European Union’s LCS is so diverse, which is a good thing. If we were to combine all of Europe, it would at least trump China’s earnings. However, I'm not too sure about Korea’s.
