In recent years, due to the influence of various objective and subjective factors, the Esports scene in general and League of Legends (LoL) in particular are facing many difficulties. Organizing and operating a tournament, or even managing a team, has become a significant challenge for all parties involved. These difficulties are prevalent in every region around the world, and they are increasingly severe for teams in major regions.
Recently, the LCK region and the global League of Legends community were stirred up when the results of a financial report were released. Accordingly, the team Nongshim RedForce (NS) announced a loss of nearly 3.7 billion won (approximately 66 billion VND). This is an enormous figure for a League of Legends team in Asia. In the LCK Spring 2023, NS ranked last. In 2022, they also had a poor performance, finishing in the middle of the standings and being eliminated early in the playoffs.
The situation of NS is also the story of many teams in both large and small regions of the League of Legends scene recently. Not long ago, famous commentator Hoàng Luân stated that many VCS teams are struggling to survive as they have already used their last reserves. The strike in LCS when Riot withdrew support while canceling the youth tournament. Or last year, the CEO of Gen.G – one of the strongest teams in LCK, which often performs well, also admitted that they had to continually seek new sponsorships for the team after each season ends.
In fact, some regions like LCK or LPL can mobilize other forms of support besides sponsors. Esports in these regions has been increasingly recognized. However, other regions are currently facing many difficulties, and maintaining a team has become a feat, let alone reinforcing the roster with reliable contracts.
Financial difficulties have already, are currently, and will continue to threaten Esports. However, overcoming these challenges is not easy, and fans are beginning to worry that many names will continue to disappear from the global League of Legends landscape in the near future.