"League of Legends" has a thriving eSports scene, and in some regions people will spend hours watching players practice on the 'Solo queue' ladder through streaming websites, normally with a webcam of the professional player and commentary.

In the U.S., Twitch.TV and Azubu are the two major streaming platforms, although Azubu is more focused on Korean professional players. There have been rumors that some professional streamers like TSM Dyrus, OddOne and Imaqtpie make a six-figure income off streaming.

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Chinese streaming services are offering big paydays to professional and retired players. One player, Wei "CaoMei" Han-Dong, is reportedly making $800,000 a year streaming League of Legends for a few hours everyday on ZhanQi TV.

ZhanQi TV is not even the largest streaming platform in China either, but it appears CaoMei is a good gamble for the pro-gaming platform. He is young, talented and a hit with the fans, regularly pulling in 150,000 viewers concurrently to his stream.

Streamers make money from several different outlets, including advertising, donations, merchandize brand deals and sponsorships. In China, the Taobao shopping service is available in the client, allowing viewers to purchase merchandize the pro-player supports.

"League of Legends" is the most popular online game in China, with more than 2 million concurrent viewers for the Season 4 Worlds Final, held in Seoul, South Korea. This was the largest audience viewing out of all the regions.

This large influx of interest into the Chinese professional League of Legends scene has brought billionaires into the fold, offering huge contracts to pro-players. Even Korean players are interested in these large contracts and are moving over in droves to the Chinese scene.

These contracts range from $100,000 to potentially over $1 million per year. There are questions about how Chinese pro-teams will generate this revenue, but they're hoping the Korean players will become popular and also win tournaments, which they otherwise wouldn't with Chinese players.

Tencent Holdings currently runs things in China for League of Legends, while Riot Games, their subsidiary, continues to work on updating the game and keeping the North American and European regions going. Kespa, the gaming arm of the government, works on the South Korean region.

TagsLeague of Legends, ZhanQi TV, CaoMei, streaming, Chinese LoL