Riot Games announced in April that the LCK is moving to a franchised format next year. And today, the league has selected the 10 teams that it’ll begin negotiating with, according to Korizon’s Ashley Kang.
Nine of the current participating LCK teams were reportedly chosen as finalists: T1, Gen.G, DRX, Damwon Gaming, KT Rolster, Afreeca Freecs, Hanwha Life Esports, Team Dynamics, and Sandbox Gaming.
SeolHaeOne Prince is the only current LCK team that reportedly didn’t make the cut. Instead, Brion Esports was chosen as a finalist, according to Kang.
Kang also reported that Riot has five teams chosen as “reserved candidates” for the franchised LCK if negotiations don’t work out with the initial 10 finalists. The supplemental list includes SeolHaeOne Prince, Element Mystic, Jin Air Greenwings, Awesome Spear, and OZ Gaming, according to Kang.
The goal of this format, according to Riot, is to “strengthen LCK’s competency and ultimately create a more satisfying experience for all participants of the league.” While it’s unclear which teams will make the cut, it seems like most of the current participating squads in the LCK have a good chance to be a part of the league’s new era.
As a part of the format change, there will be a minimum salary of 60 million Korean Won, or around $50,000 per year, that LCK organizations will have to pay its players in this franchised league.
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