Get Premium
LCK
Dplus Kia
The historic Korean LoL organization is being caught up by its own salary ambitions. According to Daily Esports, all of Dplus KIA's rosters — across every discipline — are owed a month of back pay, after having reached as much as two months of delay before a partial settlement.
The crux of the problem: an over-budget LoL roster
Around ShowMaker, the franchise bet on four young players for an estimated roster cost of ~€2M — a wage bill the organization is evidently no longer able to absorb. In a previous report, we mentioned cumulative losses over the past 3 years of €8.2M weighing on the parent company ABYSS, a K-pop agency.
One more signal about the trajectory of LCK salaries, which is starting to strain the link between sporting performance and economic sustainability for some organizations.
The club's version: a sale that's dragging on
Reached for comment, Dplus KIA's management confirms the situation and attributes it to a delayed club sale process, which disrupted cash-flow planning. The club claims it warned the players and promises an official statement "soon."
Confirmation, then, that the Gangnam K-pop agency wants to offload its esports operations, long a black mark on its balance sheet.
LCK regulations grant a right to terminate a contract after one month of unpaid wages — a lever few players will pull mid-season, for lack of credible alternatives before Worlds.
The official statement:
On July 16, the Dplus KIA front office released an official statement that confirms every point of the reporting. The front office says it decided welcoming a new owner was the best way to secure a sustainable future for the club and its roster, and has signed a contract with an M&A advisory firm to structure the process and negotiate with other potential buyers.
Comments (0)