VALORANT Champions Bundles Raises $7.5million For Qualified Teams

As the VALORANT Champions Tour: Champions enters the playoffs stages with just eight teams left, Riot Games has revealed that the in-game bundle to support the organisations has amassed a whopping $15million worth of sales, with 50% going straight to the 16 qualified teams.

Riot Games first revealed that the crowdfunding bundle was going live back in November, where half of the net proceeds would be going to the 16 teams that qualified for the VCT: Champions. Two weeks later and the developers have now taken to social media to reveal that a huge $7.5million will be lining the pockets of the qualified teams, as players have jumped at the chance to support their idols.

Riot Games Confirms VCT: Champions Bundle Raises $7.5million For Teams

Having released the bundle containing a Champions-tinted Vandal, primed with the golden plates of winners and an illuminating tag, alongside a similarly stunning butterfly melee knife, over $15miion has been splashed by fans. 

With 16 teams in total qualified from around the globe, the revenue is set to be equally distributed to the teams, complemented by the prize money accumulated throughout the event. Each team will now get approximately $470,000, which is actually $100,000 more than the first-place prize from the original $1milion prize pool.

With five days left, it's likely that this sum could pass $500,000 per team, with $16million being spent on the bundle from fans.

Will the VALORANT Champions bundle Money go to the players?

With the bundle making huge amounts of cash for the 16 organisations who qualified for VALORANT's first-ever World Championships, questions have now been asked as to whether the organisations will keep the lion's share of the fund, or whether players will be offered a slice. 

VCT desk host Yinsu Collins quizzed the situation on Twitter, with Fnatic CEO Sam Matthews claiming that the players will only get the prize money and salaries offered by the organisations, much like mainstream sports. The Fnatic Founder also added that the revenue from leagues and tournaments are crucial to organisations.

However, much like in mainstream sports, many players could have negotiated clauses within their contracts to be entitled to a slither of such revenue, with their personalities playing a large part in the popularity of the esport and the amount of crowdfunding.

It's not yet clear which organisations will give a slice of the pie to their players, although the sum is significantly bigger than the prize money. 

Both Acend and Team Secret are up first in the Quarterfinals to double down on their $40,000 earnings for a T8 finish, followed by Team Liquid and NA's last chance Cloud9 Blue.

With just two teams getting six-figure sums, there's still time for Dota-like figures to be made from the VALORANT Champions bundle.