League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) has posted net losses of almost $20m for its 2024 financial year, almost doubling its deficit from last year.
In LCK Corporation’s most recent annual report, published on the South Korean Financial Supervisory Service’s disclosure portal, the company stated that its net losses reached KRW 28.482bn ($19.99m) in FY2024.
To compare, LCK Corporation posted net losses of 13.2bn won ($9.3m) in FY2023 and 8.1bn won ($5.7m) in its financial report for FY2022.
LCK also posted sales of almost 11.4bn won ($8m) in 2024, a fall of over 55% from the previous year’s figures.
The company’s operating income was also down on last year’s figures, dropping from just under 26bn won ($18.3m) to just over 11bn won ($7.7m). The company also paid more in interest repayments and corporation tax than it did in FY2023.
Whilst LCK Corporation is responsible for operating South Korea’s franchised League of Legends competition, it seems that not all of the losses are due to the competition’s performance.
South Korean media outlet DealSite quoted a Riot Games Korea spokesperson, claiming that LCK’s losses were partly due to increased costs of holding a major VALORANT tournament in Seoul last year. This event was VALORANT Champions 2024, the game’s season-ending world championship.
Another factor that likely affected the LCK’s financial performance in 2024 was changes made to the competition’s broadcast rights deal with Chinese platform Huya. After no longer having exclusive rights in China, Huya’s LCK rights package for 2024 and 2025 reduced from ¥300M ($42.8m) to ¥230M ($32.8m).
Whilst not unexpected, the LCK also disclosed that it is still 100% owned by League of Legends and VALORANT developer Riot Games.
Riot Games – in turn – is wholly owned by China’s Tencent following a 2011 acquisition deal.
Riot Games Korea Also Had a Tough 2024
Outside of the LCK, Riot Games Korea also ensured a more challenging year overall.
In its own annual report for 2024, Riot Games Korea’s net profits fell by over 50% to just over 443bn won ($311m), while the company’s operating expenses increased by 14% year-on-year to 396.1bn won ($278m).
Net income also experienced a drop, falling by over a third year-on-year to under 65bn won ($45.6m).
An unnamed insider told DealSite: “Although the influence of esports is growing, the sector is yet to come up with a viable revenue structure. The LCK’s teams are experiencing a lot of difficulties. As such, the costs that Riot Games Korea has to deal with are rising.”