This marks a minor yet notable step in the diversification of team revenue sources. On March 19,
with the release of patch 25.06, Riot will introduce four Battle Academia skins featuring Xayah, Rakan, Qiyana, and Kayn. In its announcement video, the
League of Legends publisher specified that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Xayah's skin will be distributed to
LoL esports teams. However, Riot did not disclose further details regarding the percentage allocated to the teams or even the specific organizations set to benefit from these proceeds.
This initiative may be linked to
a statement made in March 2024 by John Needham, Riot Games' Global Head of Esports. Last year, Needham expressed Riot's ambition to implement a new partnership model with teams from the LEC (EMEA), LCK (South Korea), and LCS (North America, now LTAN). At the time, he emphasized the publisher's intention to allocate a share of the revenue from LoL Esports digital content sales to all Tier 1 teams, except the LPL. Previously, only teams participating in the Mid-Season Invitational or Worlds received a portion of these earnings.
In March 2024, Riot announced the creation of a Global Revenue Pool, comprising earnings from the sale of digital content such as skins and emotes. Under this framework, 50% of these revenues would be redistributed to teams: 35% based on competitive performanceāsplit between domestic league results and international tournament achievementsāwhile the remaining 15% would be distributed according to team popularity, incentivizing organizations to cultivate and sustain a dedicated fanbase.
Riot also indicated plans to increase the volume of digital content released throughout a season, to make this revenue stream "the primary revenue source" for esports organizations. The publisher justified this strategic pivot by highlighting that digital content sales are "generally more resilient to economic downturns and have a higher ceiling than sponsorship, which is capped by inventory, categories, and market penetration."
