While League of Legends and Valorant continue to rake in money worldwide, Riot Games is struggling to make its esports leagues profitable — especially in Europe. According to a report from Sheep Esports, the company’s European League of Legends league, LEC, has been operating at a loss for years and keeps getting more expensive to run.

From 2020 to 2023, LEC lost about €53 million (around $60 million), with €28.5 million of that in just 2023. These losses come from production costs, staff salaries, live event expenses, logistics, and a drop in sponsorships and revenue. The numbers come from Riot Games Limited — the studio’s international arm that handles publishing and esports in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Interestingly, Riot Games Limited is still a profitable company overall. In 2023, it reported €1.55 billion in total revenue and a net income of €385 million. But the esports side clearly drags things down.

The financial pressure is being felt internally too. Riot has cut staff across its esports and broadcasting teams — partly due to demands from Tencent, which owns most of the company and is now pushing for higher profits.

And it’s not just Europe. South Korea’s LCK, the most-watched League league in the world, also reported losses totaling $35 million between 2022 and 2024.

Main image: alphacoders.com