Beijing-based esports organization JingDong Gaming (JDG) announced that it has acquired a franchise slot in China’s top Honor of Kings competition – the King Pro League (KPL). The original slot belonged to Xiamen-based esports organization Vici Gaming (VG), which is also the last esports division VG had—and with this acquisition—marks the end of VG’s 12-year journey in Chinese esports.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The most recent recorded base price for a KPL franchise slot is the ¥61M RMB ($8.42M USD) franchise slot of YTG, according to the public bidding information from Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange in June 2020. In August 2020, YTG was acquired by Chinese short-form video platform Kuaishou, and rebranded to KSG.
In addition, JDG also acquired the contract of Honor of Kings professional player Yang “Wuwei” Tao from Nanjing Hero following this acquisition. It’s the first and most significant move by JDG due to Tao being one of the most commercially valued players in KPL and Honor of Kings. He was named as “friend of the brand” of Danish jewelry brand Pandora as a part of a partnership deal between Pandora and Honor of Kings announced in April. Tao is also one of the 10 players for China’s Honor of Kings “Dream Team” competing in the upcoming Honor of Kings Mid-Season Invitational at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in July. The competition will feature 12 international teams and a $3M total prize pool. While China’s Honor of Kings players have the best performance and are dominating the scene, the “Dream Team” players are not selected by qualifiers but voted by fans, shoutcasters, KPL team representatives, KPL Union, and partnering media outlets. Tao ranked #1 of all KPL players, proving it he has the most commercial value at the moment.
Apart from Honor of Kings, JDG also competes in League of Legends through the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), Valorant through the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT), Peacekeeper Elite through the Peace Elite League (PEL), and NetEase’s Naraka Bladepoint through the Naraka Bladepoint Pro League (NBPL). JDG has not competed in esports titles without a franchise system, such as Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2. JDG also has a home venue in Beijing, title-sponsored by Intel.
On Saturday, JDG signed a sponsorship deal with British multinational automobile manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover. JDG confirmed to The Esports Advocate that the sponsorship is only for its LPL team, and whether or not the logo to be featured on jerseys will be confirmed in July.
Regarding VG, the esports organization was founded in 2012, and has competed in Dota 2, Honor of Kings, CrossFire, and League of Legends. In 2021, VG sold its LPL franchise slot to Chinese esports organization RA. The VG Dota2 team was widely known in the West, as it won second place at Dota 2’s The International 2014 in Seattle, and fourth place at The International 2019 in Shanghai. The last biggest win for the team was at the $1M Dota 2 Stockholm Major in 2019 held by DreamHack, where it was crowned champion.