The player salaries and prize pool for the upcoming NBA 2K League have been announced. The inaugural season is set to kick off in May and ends in August, and the total prize pool for three tournaments, the season-end playoffs, and league championship will be a total of $1,000,000 (£722,900).
The players that compete in the NBA 2K League will be signed to six months contracts – the 17 players who are first-round draft picks will have contracts of $35,000 (£25,307.45) and the contracts for those drafted between the second and sixth rounds will be $32,000 (£23,120.80).
As well as healthy prize pools and generous contracts, players will be given funds to relocate from their current location to whichever town they’re drafted into, and housing will be sorted out for them too. Along with living arrangements, there will be medical insurance and a retirement plan involved in each contract. Interestingly, players are allowed to be endorsed by companies providing it’s compliant with the regulations set out by the League.
The NBA 2K League is the first major esports league that’s based on a sports title so it’s quite an unexplored, exciting development in competitive gaming. Currently, 72,000 hopeful competitors are battling it out to qualify for the draft that takes place in March.
Esports Insider says: While the players salaries don’t necessarily match up with those of the NA League of Legends Championship Series or Overwatch League, it’s still a solid amount of money that’s sure to support the players. The prize pool, however, is very encouraging.