ECL System Imbalances: Cost vs Prize Pool Distribution

[SadaPoika]

Hey everyone,

In this post, I’ll break down the current imbalances in the ECL system. Before I get into specifics, credit where it’s due: Sportsgamer and Kenu have done a ton great of great work for ECL, and I´ve always been grateful for it. But right now, the system feels unsustainable, and if nothing changes, I don’t think it will last much longer.

Last weekend, Sportsgamer published the current prize pools.

My conclusion is simple: this isn’t acceptable relative to what we pay for the licences. Especially for Elite. The prize pools we had in Elite last season before the reduction were just about acceptable. Again, for the money we spend.

This leads to the main flaw in the current system: the total amount players pay is too high compared to the total prize pools. A big reason is that the lower divisions have prize pools that are too large relative to Elite. And before someone says, “we don’t want to pay Elite players prizes”. Yeah, I get that. But the mistake happened back when the licence fees were introduced through every division. To a working system back then where players wanted to play as high as possible. Elite and Pro at that time were the toughest they have been. I believe introducing the licence fees like that worked for a while before people saw that the lower you play the easier it is to get prize money. Or not to lose money, however you want to see it.

I will now explain what I mean and I’ll use the super early bird prizes to be as fair as possible to Sportsgamer here.


Examples if per team 6 players pay the team licence and everyone pays 15e for their own licence per season:

3^rd best team in Europe
You pay 98.33€ per season. You get back 97.69€. So you are losing money while being one of the best teams in Europe.

19^th best team in Europe (Pro 3^rd)

You pay 65€ per season. You get back 65.69€.

51^st best team in Europe (Lite 3^rd)

You pay 48.33€ per season. You get back 51.88€.

 91^st best team in Europe (Core 3^rd)

You pay 31.67€ per season. You get back 36.16€

If you’re the 91^st team you get more back than the 3^rd best team…
And due to this imbalance, teams want to play lower than their level is. The lower you play, the less risky it is to lose money. And even make some money if you win the league you´re in.

We have seen the extreme in teams with mostly elite players(from 1-2 seasons prior) go play lite due to this... Sportsgamer can force them to “play” qualifiers, but they can´t force them to actually play. We saw this from one team as they were skating to the boards or even just being AFK for like half of the game...

There’s a lot of comparisons you could do to show the imbalances. I´ll throw one more in.

You get to the playoffs in Elite and lose in a tight game seven series to a team that goes on to be the champion. Congrats, you played a great season, and your team was one of the best in EU. You still lost 59.25€ in total this season. And must pay the 98.33€ again for the upcoming season to maybe play as good.

You have a team of players that don´t have or want to put extra money into ECL. So you go play in Lite due to it being less risky to lose your money. Even though you could compete in pro if everything clicks. Your team wins lite. You get 40.60€ to celebrate for being the 49^th best team in EU. So even though your team was 44 spots lower that the 5^th best team in the same league that season. Each player in your team made 100€ more than them.

This isn´t how a competitive league works, as you should always want to play as high as possible, and be motivated to do so.


How to fix it then? I have one suggestion, which would be at least better than how things are now.

Casual and Competitive leagues.

Casual league
Only player licence (same as now)
First team get back 150€(licence amount for 1 season per player x6)

Competitive league
Elite
16 Teams
Pro
16 Teams
Lite
Rest divided into groups of teams so that everyone gets 30 games.

For example 200€ licence per team + player licence.
with 64 teams the prize pool would be 9536€ after taxes. With most of it going to the top division, as it should be in a competitive division.

Divided for example(this is just a example, dont get too tied to it):
Lite 1^st 350€
Pro 2^nd 350€
Pro 1^st 550€
Elite 4.-8. 350€
Elite 3.-4. 550€
Elite 2^nd 750€
Elite 1^st 5000€

Elite would every season have open qualifiers for 1 spot, so everyone would have a fair chance to play in their own level.

I will not spell the whole system here but this gives a good picture of it.

If Sportsgamer is open to it, I’m happy to walk through the full concept in more detail and help refine it.

[sMiiga]

Why are we paying prize money to teams that finish 5th–8th? What is the actual reasoning behind this?

Those teams did not win. They did not reach the podium. They did not achieve anything noteworthy. They showed up, failed to compete for the top, and still get rewarded. Why is mediocrity being incentivized in a competitive league?

If payouts for 5th–8th were removed entirely, the prize money for 1st–3rd would increase "MaSsIvElY". Suddenly, winning would matter. And in the higher divisions (Elite and Pro), this would lead to genuine competition for the top spots. There may already be some of that, but assuming this system, it would play out exactly as explained here. And then for sure also, podium finishes (1.-3.) would mean something in lower divisions.

And as stated in this post: if the license costs, for example, €49, and I win €51, then honestly this feels rather trivial and borderline ridiculous. Two euros of “profit” is hardly a meaningful reward for competing in a so-called competitive league.

Right now the prize pool is being fragmented into small, meaningless payouts just so everyone can leave with something. That weakens competition. That removes prestige. That undermines the entire purpose of having an any division in the first place.

A serious competitive system should be topheavy by design. You perform at the highest level, or you do not get paid. That is how pressure is created. That is how excellence is rewarded.
 

When a team can finish 6th and still earn money, there is no real incentive to push harder. No real risk. No real reward for being better than everyone else.
 

Stop spreading the prize pool thin
Stop rewarding failure
Reward the winners properly
Make the top 3 actually worth fighting for
 

Otherwise, this is not a serious competitive league 🤔