P2,000,000 a Year in Salaries as a Videogame Coach

It is no secret that eSports events and videogame competitions are outstripping traditional sports leagues in yearly growth.

As a relatively new spectator sports market, popular multiplayer games such as Valve Corporation’s Dota 2 and Riot Games’ League of Legends (LoL) have elevated videogame tournaments from niche pastimes with a dedicated viewing fan-base to certifiable stadium draws.

With prize pools for Dota 2 reaching $18 million and paying out at least $6 million to the champion teams, this year’s The International — Dota 2’s grandest event, currently being held at the Key Arena in downtown Seattle, USA — will eclipse the potential prize payouts of traditional sporting events.

By comparison, the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015 had a total prize pool of $10 million for the tournament. The winning team, Australia, received $3,975,000.

Everyone from professional competitors, aspiring eSports hopefuls to casual fans are tuning in from their home computers, if not attending sold out arenas, to experience these high-profile tournaments. Often by the hundreds of thousands.

CHAMPIONS. Australia won this year’s ICC Cricket World Championships, bagging $3,975,000. (Photo: ICC.com)

Market research firm Newzoo estimated that some 205 million people watched or played eSports in 2014. By 2017, Newzoo projects that that number will reach to up to as many as 335 million people.

In the same report, the market research firm estimates that the eSports industry, already worth $194 million in 2014, will double in size by 2017 in what Newzoo describes as a “conservative scenario” to reach a predicted value of $465 million within two years.

With all that money packed into a dynamic competitive endeavor, it is no surprise that gaming organizations and teams are spending big money on not just talented players, but even the trappings of the traditional sports industry — coaching and a full-on sports support staff — to ensure victory.

COACH OF THE SPLIT. Locodoco (first from left) shown here is celebrating with his former team, Team SoloMid. As TSM’s head coach, Locodoco lead the team to two North American championships and a World Championship appearance. (Photo by: TSM.gg)

Yoonsup “Locodoco” Choi began his career in eSports as professional player. For years, the South Korean national made a living competing in various eSports titles, experiencing modest success. He competed in a good number of teams in both North America and Korea during his professional run in League of Legends, a five-on-five multiplayer arena game and arguably the largest eSports title in the world.

In past interviews, Locodoco has been quoted as saying that he misses being a professional player all the time, but that he would probably not return to the limelight.

Nowadays, Locodoco makes a living as a professional coach for League of Legends professional teams. Returning to his first ever team in Los Angeles based organization, Team SoloMid, Locodoco quickly revitalized the team leading them on back to back championship runs.

His mix of theorycrafting (analyzing game mechanics to determine the best possible strategies), delegation during group discussions and pre-match planning landed him the Coach of the Split award earlier this year.

In November of last year, League of Legends developer and publisher Riot Games released a competitive ruling for its North American and European professional league circuits (known as the League Challenger Series) stating that all 20 professional teams were required to hire a coach.

The American game developer began an unprecedented move that opened the doors for a whole new career: it offered, among other tangible benefits, to give a salary for the position of Head Coach for its professional teams.

While Locodoco refuses to divulge exactly how much he has made yearly as a coach for some of the best North American League of Legends squads, Riot has stated that they pay at least $12,500 for the services of a Head Coach, per split.

On top of keeping the strategic aspect of the team on lock, Head Coaches are sometimes responsible for a player’s entire schedule, including practice times, exercise and even joint leisure activities as a team. Other duties could range from managing a team’s lodging and food supply to simply keeping the players motivated (though a number of organizations have hired a Sports Psychologist for that specific purpose).

With two yearly splits (one in the spring and another in the summer) and bonuses based on how well their teams do throughout the year, it isn’t a stretch to imagine that Locodoco earns as much as $50,000 for a year’s worth of work. Work that involves analyzing hours of videogame footage and strategizing with 20-something year old male professional videogame players.

That’s over P2,000,000 for coaching in a videogame contest.

MANAGER. Kelly Ong Xiao Wei transitioned from a gamer earning $500 per tournament to an eSports team manager with a $60,000 yearly salary. (Photo: Facebook)

As eSports continue to grow, new occupational positions have expanded to include the likes of coaches, logistics staff and statisticians into the industry’s ecosystem. Since the early 2000s, eSports competitions have suffered from a top-heavy structure where the only real money to be made was from winning events… and even then, these competitions had only paltry sums. Back then, the only real way to get paid for playing videogames was to become an actual player.

Singaporean Kelly Ong Xiao Wei also started her career in eSports as a player. Today, she keeps herself involved in the videogame industry as the manager for European Dota 2 team, The Alliance.

In an interview with The Strait Times, Kelly has described her job as the manager for the European team as a mix between nanny and business manager.

“My top dishes are seafood scampi pasta, beef stew and handmade meatballs,” she said in an interview with ST reporter Lisabel Ting. “Some of the players even call me Mum.”
When she isn’t carrying bags or preparing meals, Kelly also makes sure that their financial situations are taken cared of as she coordinates with the team’s main sponsors, American videogame agency, GoodGame.

From being a 15-year old CounterStrike player, Kelly now earns as much as $60,000 a year as The Alliance’s manager.

ALLIANCE. The Alliance, a European Dota 2 team, features a full support staff that includes a coach, manager, statisticians and corporate sponsors. (Photo: Facebook)

Ultimately, the jury is still out on whether eSports should be regarded as real sports. However, the industry shows little signs of stopping its phenomenal evolution. At this point in history, the million dollar payouts for its players and events are not true indicators of actual growth. Rather, it is the creation and existence of other occupations that will truly define eSports as an industry, career and profession.

Don't miss out on the latest news and information.

For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.