Overwatch League Analyst MonteCristo Makes a Bold Claim About Player Salaries
Overwatch League analyst Christopher ‘MonteCristo’ Mykles has made a bold prediction about the increase of player salaries over the coming years.
During an episode of his talk-show Oversight, MonteCristo argued that by Season Three of the league, which will presumably take place in the first half of 2020, at least one star player will have signed a million-dollar contract.
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Such a claim implies a massive inflation of player salaries over the next two years. Though player salaries aren’t publicly known, the Overwatch League minimum salary is $50,000. San Francisco Shock’s Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won made headlines with a reported $150,000 contract, and while he’s unlikely to be the highest paid in the league, the two figures give a reasonable context for how much players are currently earning.
The Overwatch League has faced some criticism for currently having lower average salaries for players than many of the top-tier esports, with the likes of League of Legends and CS:GO professionals reportedly earning significantly more.
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The disparity perhaps isn’t too surprising considering that Overwatch League contracts were signed before there was any real proof that it would succeed, and given the massive buy-in amount asked of owners will limited evidence that competitive Overwatch could sustain large-enough interest.
The inaugural season has already been dubbed a success by many, however, to the degree that Blizzard are asking a significantly larger buy-in for expansion teams coming in for season two – perhaps as much as $60million, three times that of the launch teams.
As such, it is already anticipated that player salaries will increase for Season Two, especially for the league’s biggest stars, and clearly MonteCristo expects that growth to continue.
Though esports player salaries aren’t typically public knowledge, seven-figure contracts aren’t unheard of, with League of Legends superstar Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok perhaps the most notable example of a player reportedly earning in the millions.
The full episode of Oversight can be seen here:
