Team Liquid, owned by aXiomatic Gaming, is the third-most valuable esports company at $440 million. The team own an LCK LoL franchise spot in their native South Korea but also compete in Overwatch and NBA 2K League. They also operate in games like Fortnite, Smite, and StarCraft 2, and according to Forbes, their estimated revenue sits at $5 million, with a total valuation of $120 million. 100 Thieves Estimated Value: $190 million Richest Esports Organizations 100 Thieves, LLC is an American lifestyle brand and gaming organization based in Los Angeles, California. 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. So what makes an eSports team? Recently the renowned Forbes magazine released their list of top 10 Esports org's by the amount of revenue generated for the year 2020 and the amount of money these Esports organizations generate is insane. This year? And Scooter Braun, manager of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, recently co-led a Series A round, bringing total funding to $25 million. TSM, which rebranded to TSM FTX after signing a $210 million partnership with the exchange, is valued at $540 million, the most valuable esports company in 2022. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. U.S. Air Force 8. Fnatic has traditionally shown a commitment to the biggest esports games, entering Valorant and Halo Infinite since the last Forbes list. The influence of sports on business and culture. Immortals own both OpTic Gaming and MiBR. The team participates in Clash Royale, Apex Legends, Fortnite, Overwatch, Dragon Ball FighterZ, COD and many other eSports games. The top 10 esports companies are worth an average of $353 million, a 46% increase compared to December 2020. 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. One particularly notable partnership is with cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb as Gen.G ties itself to Web3 technologies. Cloud9 & Team SoloMid (Tied) - $583.8 million Cloud9 Franchise League (s) - Team (s): LCS - Cloud9, Overwatch - London Spitfire Cloud9 Non-franchise Teams: CS:GO, Fortnite, Hearthstone, PUBG, Rainbow Six, Rocket League, Super Smash Bros, Teamfight Tactics, WoW Top 20 Richest Esports Players. The modern battlefield in gaming is for larger social media and YouTube talent, says John Robinson, COO of 100 Thieves, a Los Angeles-based game outfit that owns franchise teams competing in League of Legends and Call of Duty. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. The 10 Most Valuable Esports Teams Of The World 1-10 Who is #1? 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. Team Spirit have divisions in Counter Strike: Global Offensive (2016), Dota 2 (2015), Hearthstone (2016) and League of Legends (2022). 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. Reach Mike Ozanian at mozanian@forbes.com. 6 this year. Fnatic has assembled dedicated teams for a range of games, including Dota 2, Hearthstone, and League of Legends. The Kraft Group 9. Below are the 12 most valuable esports companies in the world. TSM's League of Legends team is one of the most successful in the game. You are here: Forbes lists five titles separately as premier games, following the industry consensus that these games are the most important in the current competitive esports landscape: Call of Duty: Vanguard (for the Call of Duty League), Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends (for the League Championship Series and its overseas counterparts), Overwatch (for the Overwatch League) and Valorant. Perhaps the biggest surprise is despite Fortnite being the name video game of 2018, it doesnt appear anywhere near the top of the high-earning tournament games. It has separate teams of players playing Dota and League of Legends. Winning competitions is arguably the most straightforward way to make money in eSports. Million-dollar sponsorship deals are few and far between right now in esports. It would make more sense just to pay the $46 (statistically) Edit: Although, this doesn't account for the worth of the other guns you get that aren't USP. Fnatic also qualified for both Dota Majors this year and Dota's season-ending championship: The International 2022. Its a South Korean team with reach into Seoul, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. 24 Success in professional eSports demands rigorous teamwork and unflinching commitment to high performance 25; winning teams can earn millions in prize money, with . 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. It has dedicated teams for Dota 2, Hearthstone, and League of Legends. General partners include Nike, Red Bull, HyperX. Seeking to broaden their appeal, esports companies are now morphing into broader entertainment companies. Vici Gaming began operations in October 2012. Paid subscriptions are also a great way for streamers to bring in revenue. Mainstream sponsors and advertisers involved with traditional sports like football and baseball may not jump aboard the esports bandwagon. But media rights are growing the fastest and are projected to be more than $320 million by 2021, making it the second-biggest source of revenue behind sponsorships. All others in the ranking are private companies. The Atlanta FaZe of the Call of Duty League did everything they could to be successful in 2020. 1 ranking. Dota2, in particular, appears to be where most of the money is nowadays.Cumulative prizes for Dota 2 nearly reached $50 million in 2021. 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 club was founded in 2015, in Moscow, Russia. League of Legends franchises are being valued at $50 million by bankers. By creating a plan and pivoting to online events. But its bottom line is still ugly, the SPAC climate has grown more perilous, and the companys recently disclosed agreement with partner Snoop Dogg suggests it might be lowering its own valuation. 10 spot. Enter the email address you used for registration. That is why eSports players stream as well. 2. Andy recused himself from any oversight of the scope, nature and conclusions of the investigation. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. That said, it's extremely hard to win consistently enough to make eSports a primary source of income. Let's take a look at the highest-earning individual players along with the top teams that are raking in big bucks. 2 company, 100 Thieves, which counts Drake, music mogul Scooter Braun and billionaire Dan Gilbert among its owners, has soared 142%, to $460 million. You may opt-out by. Simply put, the loss of potential prize pool money, especially in, 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, , too, would feel the crunch as large prize pool events such as the. Natus Vincere 7. Beyond this, their estimate for 2021 is looking at a further year-on-year growth of 14.5%. According to Newzoo, the number of esports enthusiasts worldwide will reach 165 million in 2018, which translates to year-over-year growth of 15%. eSports salaries vary by team and players. Tyler Blevins With an estimated net worth of 15 billion dollars, he is also known as the king of Twitch. Virtus.pro 9. Team Liquid are the dominant force in North American LoL. The organization will look to its multi-game approach once again in 2021 with the hopes that more events become available as more tournament organizers become comfortable running live events with the permission of local governments. Thus revenue and projections could be slashed and the high valuations could tumble. The deal also saw them snap up OpTics LCS spot, which will be rebranded to Immortals, and operate the Los Angeles Valiant OWL team and the MiBR CS:GO squad. If your goal is just to be the Dallas Cowboys and just operate in competitive gaming, that is cool, but its a long way off, says Andy Miller, CEO of NRG and co-owner of the NBAs Sacramento Kings. Here are 15 of the most popular eSports teams right now in alphabetical order. 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.. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Titles include Age of Empires II, Apex Legends, and Fortnite. sq. Games go in and out of style, which would mean companies would need to drastically change their rosters. A chunk of that will go toward building a 20,000-to-30,000-square-foot training facility and home base for its operations in Los Angeles, scheduled to open in 2019. That bravado has been tamed. In other words, the former has seen a fivefold increase in a year, the latter a three- to fourfold increase. Much like Virtus.pro, Team Liquid brought home the bulk of its 2020 prize money from CS:GO and Dota 2. While Misfits Gaming are also valued at $120 million, its estimated that they bring in $8 million in revenue. If you are not already interested in electronic gaming, you may be surprised by just how big an industry eSports now is. North America is projected to account for approximately 38% ($345 million) of global eSports revenue in 2018. 4, Spacestation Gaming more than tripled its esports prize money earnings from last year where they earned $436K. Ranking The Top Esports Teams 10. According to Forbes, G2s value has grown by $60 million in 2019, up to $165 million, with an estimated revenue of $22 million per year. in the finals 4-2 to take home the lions share of the prize money. The esports team was founded in the Netherlands back in 2000. was concerned taking home $1.017M playing in 12 events that survived the pandemic. These cookies do not store any personal information. Theres a broad-based agreement that esports as a stand-alone doesnt work as a business, one team executive says bluntly. Enthusiast Gaming is ranked for the first time. Spacestation, much like G2, has teams in multiple esports titles winning $5K here, $10K there, that helped to bolster its numbers for 2020. We take a look at the top 10 richest eSports teams in history. And unlike, say, Major League Soccerwhich has sold teams at similarly high multiplesesports has a colossal audience; the industry just has to find a way to monetize all those eyeballs. In December 2020, FaZe Clan was worth $305 million. It may also look to launch consumer products around its famous personalities. Cloud9 recently announced a major apparel partnership with Puma, releasing their first collection in October 2019. Activision Blizzard began selling franchises for $20 million for its Overwatch League around the same time. Using NFTs to sell the in-game digital items known as skins would allow teams to collect a fee if the item was resold, the way that Dapper Labs collects a percentage of any trade of its NBA Top Shot NFTs on the secondary market. However, much like G2, Liquid has diversified its team portfolio and brings in money from multiple titles. Paris Saint-Germain Esports is a French professional eSports brand. The company is also looking to expand globally with a particular eye on the U.S., with plans for a flagship in New York. Our 12 companies have an average enterprise value of 13 times 2018 estimated sales. The organization also brought home more than $25K from, brought home the bulk of its 2020 prize money from. The No. 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. Once again, Johan "N0tail" Sundstein has managed to amass the biggest prize purse of awards thanks to his commitment to professional Dota 2 and string of successes in 2018 and 2019 with his team, OG. As the squad continues to look for an in-game commander, Danny #BERRY Krger will replace Sprout in their future matches in the ESL Challenger League Season 44 and the CCT Central Europe Malta Finals 1, according to esports media sources. FaZe Clan announced plans in October 2021 to go public through a merger with blank-check company B. Riley Principal 150 Merger Corp., valuing the combined entity at $1 billion. All Rights Reserved. He is also one of the most popular streamers among the fans. On June 10, 2021, FaZe Clan became the first esports team to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. 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. 2019 - Present Team: TSM Approx. With that championship, the team took home $1.79M in prize money after defeating the Atlanta FaZe in the finals three maps to two. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. They were smart. They sponsored a Dutch StarCraft: Brood War team in 2010. Overwatch is already adding expansion teams, and Riot Games has begun selling franchises for its European league. 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. Team Envy (Valued $170 million)7. This would give the team a bye all the way into Winners Round 3 where it would face off against the Chicago Huntsmen, which it eventually defeated 3-2. Team SoloMid, the second-most-valuable company ($225 million) and the only one known to be cash-flow positive, is the winningest North American team in League of Legends, with six championships. The effect these cancellations had on the total amount of money available to winning teams was tremendous as the team that won the most money this year would have come in at No. This month, the five-year old company, which is owned by Jack and Paullie Etienne, raised $50 million in Series B funding. Teams must pay each player a minimum of $12,500 for the 28-match season. A bit later they entered World of Warcraft and the original version of Dota. Quite, at 16 years . It is also represented by many over 19 countries, making it one of the most diverse teams on the planet. Ill be rooting for them, says one rival team executive. They handpicked skilled players who were highly ranked on the Chinese Dota ladder at the time. The Los Angeles-based company, which is developing a lifestyle brand at the intersection of apparel, entertainment and esports, in December announced a $60 million funding round at a $460 million valuation. FaZe Clans revenue figure was taken from its S-4 filing with the SEC as it seeks to go public; all other revenue figures represent an estimate for 2021, including both core esports and other divisions of each company. They are known for their League of Legends, Dota 2, and StarCraft II teams but have recently expanded into CS: GO and Hearthstone. The team primarily plays in Dota 2 eSports tournaments, with its total prize money won throughout its. This team was able to still compete in various online events, even taking a third place finish in Flashpoint Season 2. team was able to secure $168K in winnings playing in a very limited amount of events, having played in no events since Sept. 27. The team won the Dota Asia Championships a month later. 100 Thieves 100 Thieves is one of the top gaming teams in the world today. Team Envy own the Dallas Fuel Overwatch League team. These include a womans team they added in September 2012. In April 2018, LGD partnered with French football giants Paris Saint-Germain to create a squad called PSG.LGD. Teams are also constrained in how they can make their money because they dont own the intellectual property of the games they compete inthey cant, for example, sell a special gun in Call of Duty without the consent of the games publisher, Activision Blizzard. However, much like G2, Liquid has diversified its team portfolio and brings in money from multiple titles. Viewers of certain streams may donate money to their favorite players. Since the start of 2021, G2 has announced apparel deals with Adidas, Ralph Lauren and New Era. Each player independently controls a powerful character, their "hero, who has a unique ability and a differing style of play. Its well-nigh impossible to stream 100 Thieves without seeing the Rocket Mortgage brand. 1 ranking. This has led to esports companies raising capital by the buckets. That same month the revenue of FaZe Clan was estimated $40 million. A software development company is looking to the NBA for help. FaZe Clan has broken into mainstream culture in a way no other esports organization has been able to, creating tremendous brand value as it looks to become a full-fledged media company with original content like the contest series Road To FaZe1, the horror movie Crimson and a comic book crossover with Batman. Different multiples are used for each. Among the hardest hit was Immortals Gaming Club, another Los Angeles-based group, which fell off the list because of a singular focus on competitive gaming. Organizations like FaZe Clan and NRG are focusing on content, with original shows in addition to their armies of streamers, while 100 Thieves is building a lifestyle company around its apparel. is an esport that is looking to scale, having added four teams for a total of 20 that will now be competing in the Six Invitational 2021, which Spacestation will obviously be a part of. G2 Esports, the highest-ranked company outside of Los Angeles County, with its headquarters in Berlin, is branching out from esports with video content around its teams and a record label, G2 Music. Fnatic - $15.39m in 903 tournaments. Sponsorships help too. This year, the team made $29 million in revenue. 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. League the team took home a cool $900K to go along with its winnings from the various tournaments during league play. That team came third in The International 2012. TSM was able to win $158K in prize money in League of Legends as well as $179K in Fortnite. Giant companies and wealthy individuals alike have invested in esports, from organizations and teams to tournaments and events. G2 could be positioned for a big payday in 2021 with any sort of return to esports normalcy. For instance, Overwatchs viewership numbers are plummeting, just a few years after companies shelled out $20 million for the initial franchise slots in the Overwatch League; esports insiders believe they would sell for a fraction of that price now. 7 at $180 million. Of all the biggest eSports organizations, SoloMid and Cloud9 are the most valuable. Immortals is now reportedly shopping its OWL franchise. Sponsored teams make ads, wear sponsored merch, and share affiliate links with their followers. Carlos ocelote Rodrguez ability to develop competitive teams in multiple titles helped propel G2 Esports to No. Earlier rankings relied on capital raises and asset sales, which were limited in 2020; the sole major transaction was the sale of IGCs CDL franchise to 100 Thieves at cost. The deal would give FaZe the highest-ever valuation for an esports company, surpassing TSM. Team Roster Positions for Top eSports. As a leading figure in the global ascent of electro house, Aoki defined a generation of pop music hits. Importantly, eSports are not just some niche fad, likely to become old news by next year. Red Bull Disciplines. Once again, TSM, owned by Andy Dinh, leads the way, rising 32% to $540 million. The net worth for the team is $24,384. R6 is an esport that is looking to scale, having added four teams for a total of 20 that will now be competing in the Six Invitational 2021, which Spacestation will obviously be a part of. Evil Geniuses 4. Some around the industry express wariness about the Los Angeles-based companys leadership, however, with CEO Andy Dinh accused late last year of bullying. Evil Geniuses is a subsidiary of GoodGame Agency, owned by Amazons Twitch division. Founded in 2010, this team has exploded from a group of teens with video cams and a love for video gaming and into a multinational army of gamers. Virtus.pro has more than 50 players on its roster. team that carried the day, winning two out of the four events they played in, taking home $1.1M in prize money. NRG eSports NRG eSports is a popular eSports team that is based in Los Angeles, California. 1. FaZe Clan is a popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gaming team. Evil Geniuses are one of only a few teams to have mixed rosters - with their Valorant team consisting of both men and women. For LoLbeing one of the leading esports titles in the world, the prize money is actually comparatively modest. The year 2020 wasnt kind to esports competition as many events were canceled or postponed due to health concerns surrounding the, pandemic. However, Team Secrets prize winnings are tied to its Dota 2 squad. The team was formed in 2015 by Mark Mastrov and Andy Miller who are co-owners of Sacramento Kings. 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. T1 - $150 million Record world champion in LoL and with Faker they got a legendary esports player in their squad. What is the best eSports team. Many of the top eSports players are celebrities to Millennial and Generation Y fans. Dallas Cowboys (NFL) Value: $5.7 billion Five-Year Change In Value: 43% Owner: Jerry Jones Year Purchased: 1989 Price Paid:. Total Prize Money Earned: $15,731,970.21. Disney's Marvel 10. 80 Pine Street, Suite 3202 New York, NY 10005, Start and end your day with FOS in your inbox. Manchester United, the iconic publicly traded English soccer team, has a comparable multiple of 5. Team Liquid has won various tournaments over its life, over a variety of games. League operations during the pandemic was instrumental in making sure the North American esports scene remained relevant. League did everything they could to be successful in 2020. Huge prize pools in this industry are common. If theres one thing clear, its that nobody has found their way out.. Industry-wide revenue, which was expected to jump 16% to $1.1 billion in 2020, instead fell $150 million after the pandemic canceled most live events, according to industry research group Newzoo. 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. Forbes unveiled its list of the most valuable esports companies in 2022 amid industry challenges that have forced businesses to diversify. It disbanded in 2014, but LGD signed up a replacement squad, which they called LGD CDEC, later rebranded CDEC Gaming. This is a BETA experience. The Shock ultimately defeated the Seoul Dynasty in the finals 4-2 to take home the lions share of the prize money. Valued at $160 million, 100 Thieves, founded by former CoD pro Matt Nadeshot Haag, are more than just an esports organization, operating a hugely successful streetwear and apparel business, while also snapping up some of the most popular streamers in the world. It competes in several video games that include Call of Duty, Fortnite Battle Royale, League of Legends, Valorant, and Call of Duty: Warzone. As one point of comparison, this years Super Bowl drew an average of 112 million viewers, according to NBCUniversal. . Faker has earned more than $1.17 million from 40 tournaments, the highest from Korea. oc. The year 2020 wasnt kind to esports competition as many events were canceled or postponed due to health concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The LCS will host its first fan-attended event since Summer of 2019 in Newark, NJ at the Prudential Center. N0tail (Johan Sundstein) 7.18. NRG Esports (Valued $150 million)10. Looking ahead, companies see a huge opportunity to monetize their fan bases through emerging technologies like blockchain, NFTs and the metaverse. T1 is widely known for its participation in League of Legends, Fortnite, Dota 2, PUBG, Super Smash Bros., Hearthstone, and Apex Legends gaming competitions. Pepsi's Mountain Dew 6. Were starting to see valuations become more in line with realities, says Bobby Sharma, an investment advisor for New York-based esports advisory firm Electronic Sports Group. 100 Thieves emerged as the second-most valuable esports company with a $460 million valuation. Overactive Media are the parent company of Splyce, who currently compete in Europes LEC LoL franchised league, and also own the Toronto Defiant OWL team and Toronto Ultra CDL team. But the losers outweighed the winners this year. Many consider their Counter-Strike team to be one of the best of all-time, having won three CS: GO Majors. As shown in Figure 3, global revenue for eSports is projected to reach $1.65 billion in 2021. . Until finalized, we cant comment on specifics., Lance Skundrich/Riot Games Inc. via Getty Images. Those results are pending. Team Liquid (Valued $320 million)1. The first Dota team grew out of the team For The Dream, which LGD sponsored in 2009. 22 when compared to last years list. With a diversified team fielding structure, TSM participated and won money in 11 different games including, TSM was able to win $158K in prize money in. As the runner-up for the Call of Duty League the team took home a cool $900K to go along with its winnings from the various tournaments during league play. He was the owner of the eSports franchise Echo Fox until his departure from the franchise in October 2019. . No. Riot Games and its League of Legends World Championship along with Activision Blizzards Overwatch and Call of Duty League Championships were the big money drivers in 2020 and did esports a great service by finding ways to keep the esports competitive scene moving. G2 secured internation LoL success at 2019s Mid-Season Invitational. Their $4 billion value, up 11%, ranks fifth among all sports. Overwatch Team Liquid 2. Team Liquid will look to capitalize on its CS:GO, Dota 2, League of Legends, and possibly Valorant teams heading into 2021. Its a shootout to see who can be the biggest and baddest brand. It was Virtus.pros CS:GO team that brought in the bulk of this years prize money; bringing in $641K including a $500K payday by winning Flashpoint Season 2. Still, that kind of aggregation doesnt reflect the opportunity in any one esporta fan of League of Legends doesnt necessarily care about Call of Duty, the same way an NFL fan doesnt necessarily watch the NBA. The World's Most Valuable Sports Teams 2021 Getty Images 1. FaZe finished the regular season as the No. Team Secret, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, was able to put together a great year as far as.