On 11 AM KST (7PM PST), April 4th, Riot Korea officially announced that League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), the South Korean regional tournament for League of Legends, will be franchising for the upcoming 2021 season.

The LCK becomes the fourth and final major competitive League of Legends region to adopt a franchise system, after China’s League of Legends Pro League (LPL), North America’s (League Championship Series) and Europe’s League of Legends European Championship (LEC).

In the new website, Riot Korea has announced it has opened applications from organizations both currently active in the LCK and organizations looking to enter the LCK from 2021. Riot Korea is expected to process and review the applications between June and August and announce the 2021 LCK teams in late September this year.

The biggest implication of this news is that the selected participating teams will be permanent partners of the LCK. Starting in 2021, LCK teams will no longer face possible relegations or play in a promotional tournament to guarantee their spot in the following split.

The 2020 LCK spring split promotions, held after the LCK spring split to decide which teams will play in the 2020 LCK summer split, will be the final promotional tournament that the LCK holds. Challengers Korea will instead be rebooted to an Academy league, where each LCK organization will field a team of developmental players.

Teams selected into the LCK will also enter a revenue-sharing partnership with Riot Korea. League-based revenues including media deals, sponsorships, and merchandise sales are expected to be shared among the teams and Riot.

Riot Korea has also announced that the league will be taking various measures to increase the career stability of the players participating in the league. The minimum wage of a participating LCK player, currently at 20 million won (Approx. 16,000 USD), will be increased to around 60 million won (Approx. 48,500 USD) heading into 2021.

Riot Korea told Korizon, “We have been proactively evaluating the financial viability and the various business models for the franchise since last year.” Riot Korea added, “The goal is to promote security and stimulate investments from teams and sponsors, which will lead to an increase in performance — An upward, sustainable spiral. We hope that this leads to esports becoming an established sport like baseball or football, a sport that can be enjoyed and supported over generations.”