Indeed the most lucrative game by far is Dota, and variations thereof. Dota2, in particular, appears to be where most of the money is nowadays.Cumulative prizes for Dota 2 nearly reached. scene and hopes to see, along with many other organizations, Valve revive the scene in 2021. Invictus Gaming was launched by businessman Wang Sicong. To compile this ranking of the ten most valuable companies fielding esports teams, Forbes spoke to more than 40 company executives, esports industry professionals, investors, bankers and analysts. Sources: company executives, investors, investment advisors, public documents. competes in two of the top esports with teams in, which brought in the bulk of its prize money in 2020. 14 Leading eSports Agencies for Influencer Marketing Managers to K 18 Talent Management Agencies for eSports, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - $1,024,251.21, Magomed Khalilov (Collapse) - $3,973,920.01, Yaroslav Naidenov (Miposhka) - $3,973,920.01, Alexander Khertek (TORONTOTOKYO) - $3,973,920.01, How to Become an Amazon Influencer a Step-by-Step Guide, RFP Management Software for Growth-Focused Companies. We take a look at the top 10 richest eSports teams in history. They signed their first professional players when they began playing StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in 2010. However, much like G2, Liquid has diversified its team portfolio and brings in money from multiple titles. Esports companies are constantly buying and selling teams and players to compete in the best leagues and build audiences on Amazons Twitch and Alphabets YouTube. With a net worth of $1.7 billion, esports is a small part of his portfolio, but one with a lot of space to grow. Riot Games began selling franchises for $10 million a pop for its game League of Legends in the summer of 2017. Sam and Anne Mathews (son and mother) founded Fnatic in 2004, as they saw the potential future for eSports. League operations during the pandemic was instrumental in making sure the North American esports scene remained relevant. Monetization remains the principal challenge for literally every esports team, says Bobby Sharma, a private equity investor and the managing partner at advisory firm Electronic Sports Group. Here are the ten most valuable esports companies. Page generated in 5.569934845 milliseconds, BetBoom Universe: Episode I - Comics Zone, RLCS 2022-23 - Winter: EU Regional 2 - Winter Cup, RLCS 2022-23 - Winter: NA Regional 2 - Winter Cup. The deal could pump new resources into Activisions esports leaguesor esports could become an afterthought in Microsofts massive budget. Cloud9 are worth $400 million according to Forbes. All Rights Reserved. 13. It has dedicated teams for Dota 2, Hearthstone, and League of Legends. KATOWICE, POLAND - MARCH 02: General view of Spodek Arena during Counter-Strike: Global Offensive quarter-final game between Cloud9 and FaZe Clan on March 2, 2018 in Katowice, Poland. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more. Team Spirit 5. To account for market fluctuations, we used an average enterprise value between September 1 and December 1 and value the company at $180 million, ranking No. In 2017, there were 74 deals (the majority from angel and venture capital investors) worth $1.52 billion involving esports companies, according to PitchBook, up from six deals worth $34 million in 2008. The vast majority of companies are cash-flow (in the sense of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) negative as they continue to spend money to build their rosters and brands. Team Liquid became part of the entertainment and sports management company, aXiomatic, in 2016. When this team was created in 2014, it quickly caught fire. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. If youre interested in selling products, becoming an Amazon influencer can be a good 2023 is shaping up to be a big year for advanced RFP software solutions. LGD then created another Dota squad, which they called LGD.int. So what makes an eSports team? The organization also brought home more than $25K from Fortnite and $4.6K in Electronic Arts Apex Legends. Vici Gaming began operations in October 2012. The net worth for the team is $24,384. Report: Mobile Legends teams could be forced to drop Wild Rift due to exclusivity contract, Report: Ninjas in Pyjamas merging with ESV5, Australian federal court gives Epic lawsuit against Apple the green light, TikTok appoints Nobru as global ambassador, Ninjas in Pyjamas signs multiyear deal with Razer, Andbox signs USAA as New York Subliners partner, Path and H20 join forces to bring gaming to cinemas in the Netherlands, LOUD announces Brazilian e-commerce Submarino as sponsor, The possible legal peril facing Save The Kids endorsers, Prudential Center to host LCS Championship Delivered by GrubHub, Esports Entertainment Group secures exclusive deal with Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment Company, Golden Guardians returns to WoW raid race with next BDGG event, Riot Games announces in-person finals for first Wild Rift official tournament in Brazil. match was the catalyst behind the No. Founded in 2014 and hailing from China, Wings Gaming were the second richest eSports team, despite only being . are the winners of the inaugural season of Activision Blizzards. 5 - Spacestation Gaming: $1.36M Coming in at No. Team Rankings Highest Overall Team Earnings Highest Single Game Team Earnings Top 100 200 300 400 500 Highest Overall Team Earnings This list represents the top ranking teams in esports who won the most prize money based on tournament results, player transfers and team statements published on the internet. Until finalized, we cant comment on specifics., Lance Skundrich/Riot Games Inc. via Getty Images. FaZe Clan is trying to go public through a SPAC merger; the other nine companies in this years ranking remain privately owned. Those numbers dont tell the whole story, however. Teams had 3 encounters in the past, Aster won 1 times. The Esports organizations participating in Mobile Legends could be forced to drop or never sign a team for Wild Rift due 2022 The Esports Observer - a brand by Esports Business Solutions UG (haftungsbeschrnkt) i.L. One Rio Major and its $2M were lost to the pandemic. Here we have one of the biggest esports organizations with many teams in various disciplines and players from all over the world. By estimation, it will be worth around $1.62 billion by 2024. In the meantime, though, new sponsors have found their way to teams as the pandemic has supercharged online viewership numbers, with esports young male audience long considered a desirable but hard-to-reach demographic among advertisers. The organization has had an occasionally bumpy experience with esports franchise model but limits its risk exposure by fielding a manageable number of teams. Teams not only have to pick the right games to compete in but also have to hope those titles stay relevant. was concerned taking home $1.017M playing in 12 events that survived the pandemic. Here is an interesting visualization of the top 15 Esports Games by Prize Money below. eSports salaries vary by team and players. The team own an LCK LoL franchise spot in their native South Korea but also compete in Overwatch and NBA 2K League. Paid subscriptions are also a great way for streamers to bring in revenue. In other words, the former has seen a fivefold increase in a year, the latter a three- to fourfold increase. Who is the highest-paid esports player of all time? Here are the top 10 teams in terms of prize money won for 2020. On June 10, 2021, FaZe Clan became the first esports team to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. SynerGE (PUBG Mobile) SynerGE is a mobile gaming team where the owner for the team is Sameer Peerjade and the CEO of the team is Dr. Rushindra Sinha, Mohit Israney, Yash Manoj Singh. In 2019, NewZoo estimated the total revenue of the esports market would cross $1.1 billion. The ad-supported app, which has 10 million active monthly users and offers playing analysis and training sessions, now accounts for half of the companys $45 million in revenue. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. . We have previously discussed the rise of eSports influence on brands. This organizations prize pool money is directly tied to the. G2 could be positioned for a big payday in 2021 with any sort of return to esports normalcy. Team Secret, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, was able to put together a great year as far as. We included only companies that compete in gaming and excluded game publishers and arena builders. As a leading figure in the global ascent of electro house, Aoki defined a generation of pop music hits. Last month, the company submitted an amended filing to the SEC indicating that FaZe posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $28.7 million in FY2021, compared to a projected loss of $19 million. oc. As of 2020, the top five most valuable esports teams according to Forbes are: TSM - Value: $540 million 2021 Estimated Revenue: $56 million Change From 2020: 32% Principle Owner: Andy Dinh 100 Thieves - Value: $460 million 2021 Estimated Revenue: $38 million Change From 2020: 142% And for Team Secret, Dota 2 is a staple. In 2015, Team Liquid merged with Team Curse, gaining the Team Curse players and management. The company, founded by former Call of Duty champion Matthew Nadeshot Haag, 28, expects to make $16 million in revenue this year, a leap of 60%. The Biggest Esports Sponsors in the World 1. Invictus Gaming burst onto the scene in 2011 with its win of the 2011 World Cyber Games. On the last edition of this list, in 2020, Enthusiast ranked No. Huge prize pools in this industry are common. Now some of those companies have to play catchup with those expectations., "If your goal is just to be the Dallas Cowboys, that is cool, but its a long way off., Its an industry-wide reckoning that Sharma, the esports investment advisor, says will trim the weak, empower the strong and open up very meaningful opportunities and upside.. The London-based company is now building up its products businesses, starting with gaming hardware, including keyboards and mice. Paid subscriptions are also a great way for streamers to bring in revenue. Team Envy (Valued $170 million)7. They chose to build a team of good players from around the world. Games go in and out of style, which would mean companies would need to drastically change their rosters. Total Prize Money Earned: $26,445,664.94. Team Spirit beat PSG.LGD in the Grand Finals of The International 2021, earning more than $18 million, the highest prize ever awarded in eSports. The team also compete in CS:GO, Dota 2, Fortnite, and more, and are worth $175 million according to Forbes, with $16 million in estimated revenue. Comcast Xfinity 3. FaZe Clan is a popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gaming team. FaZe finished the regular season as the No. March 2, 2023 4:45 pm ET. 4 in the ranking. Evil Geniuses is a subsidiary of GoodGame Agency, owned by Amazons Twitch division. For the first time since 2014, Fnatic comes in under the $1M mark, through no real fault of its own, riding its CS:GO team and the $321K it made in 2020 to the No. Team Liquids parent, aXiomatic Gaming, is fresh off raising $35 million in a round announced this week that values Liquid at $415 million. . G2 has teams competing in. TSM and Gen.G have launched training apps while companies like ReKTGlobal and LOUD run successful marketing agencies. For LoLbeing one of the leading esports titles in the world, the prize money is actually comparatively modest. Carolina Panthers founder and first-ever team owner Jerry Richardson died at the age of 86 on Wednesday night. The announcement last month that the company, based in Santa Monica, California, is returning to competition in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive may reinforce that image, but even C9 is creating new lines of business with Training Grounds, a coaching app, and with Stratus, a subscription service for super-fans. With esports events like the 2019 League of Legends World Championships bringing in almost four million concurrent viewers across Twitch and YouTube, its no surprise that competitive gaming is now a multi-million dollar industry, and shows no signs of slowing down. However, Team Secrets prize winnings are tied to its Dota 2 squad. TSMs forward thinking brought in $125K in chess winnings to go along with monies won from playing in many different titles that dont require a ton of expenses. That said, it's extremely hard to win consistently enough to make eSports a primary source of income. The influence of sports on business and culture. However, players in winning and well-sponsored teams often receive considerably more than this. Team SoloMid has topped . Cloud9 finishes second with valuation of US$350m; Team Liquid, Faze Clan and 100 Thieves round out top five. Who is the richest esports player? The teams base is in Hangzhou, China. Activision Blizzard began selling franchises for $20 million for its Overwatch League around the same time. This has led to esports companies raising capital by the buckets. Fnatic 8. Team Liquid is a professional eSports team founded in the Netherlands in 2000. Sponsorships help too. Capital raises and asset sales were taken into account but were not always considered determinative of a teams value, for various reasons. By Forbes calculations, excluding ad share revenue paid to talenta figure excluded from revenue estimates reported by other companies on the listEnthusiast Gaming is worth 5.5 times revenue. The police have back . 2 company, 100 Thieves, which counts Drake, music mogul Scooter Braun and billionaire Dan Gilbert among its owners, has soared 142%, to $460 million. The multiple titles approach has allowed Liquid to maintain its elite presence in esports having been the No. Overwatch is already adding expansion teams, and Riot Games has begun selling franchises for its European league. (Joint) Misfits Gaming (Valued $120 million)11. The organization have dominated League of Legends in the United States, winning three consecutive splits, and secured three top 4 finishes at the last three Dota 2 The International tournaments. And Scooter Braun, manager of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, recently co-led a Series A round, bringing total funding to $25 million. Front Office Sports covers the influence of sports on business and culture. Team Spirit have divisions in Counter Strike: Global Offensive (2016), Dota 2 (2015), Hearthstone (2016) and League of Legends (2022). The company is also looking to expand globally with a particular eye on the U.S., with plans for a flagship in New York. Team Secret 6. One particularly notable partnership is with cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb as Gen.G ties itself to Web3 technologies. Sponsored teams make ads, wear sponsored merch, and share affiliate links with their followers. There are also ideas emerging around so-called play-to-earn games, which reward users with NFTs or cryptocoins. Importantly, eSports are not just some niche fad, likely to become old news by next year. Overwatch franchise valuations are $60 million to $80 million, depending on country and city. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Its greatest success, however, was winning The International 2017 (TI17), which brought them $10,862,683. All Rights Reserved. The favorite for this one looks to be Tundra Esports with maximum odd of 1.66 offered by Pinnacle. Immortals Gaming Club (Valued $210 million)4. 3. A report last month by gaming data firm Newzoo found that the global esports audience was on track to reach 532 million this year, including 261 million esports enthusiasts who watch esports content more than once a month. The first step is signing partnerships with cryptocurrency platforms like FTX and Crypto.com, as TSM and Fnatic have done, but the real payoffs could come later. Esports news, interviews, and analysis, plus live tournament coverage. Since the pick up, NRG have locked down the Chicago Call of Duty spot, and continue to operate in many of the world's biggest esports, such as Fortnite, Smash, Apex Legends, and more, valued at. I think were going to see a variety of successful models emerge, bespoke to specific team assets and strengths, says Electronic Sports Groups Sharma. The other focus for the company, which has offices in Seoul, Shanghai and Santa Monica, California, is its coaching platform, which launched last year and has already enrolled thousands of students in Asia, Gen.G says. When a team or player gets a large enough following, selling merchandise is also a good way to earn extra money. 8. With a diversified team fielding structure, TSM participated and won money in 11 different games including League of Legends, Fortnite, and Valorant. The top 10 esports companies are worth an average of $353 million, a 46% increase compared to December 2020. 24 Success in professional eSports demands rigorous teamwork and unflinching commitment to high performance 25; winning teams can earn millions in prize money, with . Gen.G are a Korean-based esports organization. Top Projects and E-sports players The game launch event will begin with an insightful talk featuring industry experts from the gaming world. TSM is valued at $540 million, the most valuable esports company in 2022. Those results are pending. An eSport player salary usually ranges from 1.000 to 5.000 a month, with some highly skilled players earning a salary of a stunning 50.000 a month. In January its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team became the first North American squad to take top honors at a major tournament. They initially focused on the original Dota, although they have since expanded to Dota 2. Team OG also won the Manila Major 2016 event, making them the first squad in Dota 2 history to win two major tournaments. In second on this years list is Cloud 9, another LA-based company that is valued at $350 million, down 13% from 2019. League of Legends franchises are being valued at $50 million by bankers. Lee "Faker" Sang Hyeok is a 22-year-old League of Legends player from The Republic of Korea. Many esports companies raised capital based on inflated expectations of how the market will come together, particularly in the U.S., says Jens Hilgers, founding general partner of esports investor Bitkraft Ventures and co-owner of G2 Esports, which ranks No. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. That is why eSports players stream as well. And while team sponsorships can be lucrative, other revenue streams often have low margins. A bit later they entered World of Warcraft and the original version of Dota. Before the halt of Dota events, Virtus.pro was able to take home more than $472K in winnings by playing in various tournaments including EPIC League and winning ESL One Los Angeles. Each player independently controls a powerful character, their "hero, who has a unique ability and a differing style of play. The manager for the team is Nimish "Nemo" Raut and the CEO for the team is Wouter Sleijffers. The team finished second at The International 2014. He is betting that an expansion into Fortnite will help take him there. Manchester United, the iconic publicly traded English soccer team, has a comparable multiple of 5. 7 on the list at $175 million, up 6%. | T1 Clubs have a certain value, not only in conventional sports. To them, eSports is as legitimate a sport as football and basketball are to the more athletically oriented. Most of the ad revenue from a streamers videos is returned to the streamer. (Picture: Forbes) The statistic at the top of the chart is . Theyre still newbies, as far as this list is concerned, making their winnings from a mere 50 tournaments particularly impressive. Virtus.pro competes in two of the top esports with teams in CS:GO and Dota 2 which brought in the bulk of its prize money in 2020. 17 * 4 = 68. Simply put, the loss of potential prize pool money, especially in Dota 2 with its $40M USD that would have come from the canceled The International, saw some teams struggle and others exiting the scene, as was the case with Ninjas in Pyjamas. The San Francisco Shock, champions of Season 3 of the Overwatch League, took home $1.55M in prize money out of a total prize pool of $3.05M over the course of the regular season and playoffs. It holds the record for the most League of Legends Championship Series split titles in the EU LCS. For the first time since 2014, Fnatic comes in under the $1M mark, through no real fault of its own, riding its. FaZe now boasts over 230 million followers across all its related social platforms and is worth $305 million to rank No. With revenue expected to fall to $8.5 million this year, the teams value isless than half the $260 million Forbes estimated in 2019. But while money is pouring into the metaverseFortnite publisher Epic Games announced last month that it had raised $1 billion in funding to support its metaverse initiativethose days are a long ways off, and game makers are in no rush to cede control. As of 2018, there was only one esports company worth more than $300 million in valuation. Other companies that field esports teams but derive a small fraction of their revenue from esportssuch as Shopify, with its Shopify Rebellion divisionwere similarly excluded. Moscow's Team Spirit is a Russian eSports organization founded in 2015. Overwatch N0tail (Johan Sundstein) 7.18. While Natus Vincere is now a Dota 2 and World of Tanks team, the outfit banded together to focus on winning Counter-Strike competitions. International, there just wasnt a chance at taking home the same kind of money as last year when the organization took home $2.06M by virtue of a fourth place finish at the aforementioned International.