Starting nearly 40 years ago, the esports economy has successfully raked in large numbers in terms of economic growth. The best supporters for this industry were the sponsorships, supported by the large number of people who are interested in this field. Thanks to their large numbers, the esports industry was able to gain their attention and got a bigger economical worth.
In today’s article, we will describe to you the top 10 valuable teams of esports, according to the Forbes article, written by Christina Settimi.
1- Team SoloMid
Value: $410 million
1-Year Change: 3%
Estimated Revenue: $45 million
Revenue From Esports: 50%
Franchise Teams: LCS - TSM
Non-Franchise Teams: Apex Legends, Fortnite, Icon Influencers, Magic the Gathering, PUBG, PUBG Mobile, Rainbow 6, Super Smash Bros, Team Fight Tactics, Valorant
Owner: Andy Dinh
Team SoloMid or with its official name Team SoloMid FTX, is a professional esports organization based in the United States, founded in September 2009 by Andy “Reginald” Dinh.
TSM is mostly known for winning the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) seven times of the total sixteen series. Their first championship was at the North America LCS 2014, with their team that includes Dyrus, Amazing, Bjergsen, Wildturtle, and Lustboy.
On January 25, 2015, TSM acquired the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster of Team Dignitas, which made the players the highest-paid CS: GO players at that time, according to The Daily Dot.
In December 2020, Team SoloMid was worth $410 million, and in the same month, its revenue was determined as $45 million.
On 4 June 2021, TSM made a 10-year naming rights deal with cryptocurrency exchange FTX by changing its name. That naming rights cost was announced as 210 million dollars.
2- Cloud9
Value: $350 million
1-Year Change: -13%
Estimated Revenue: $30 million
Revenue From Esports: 70%
Franchise Teams: LCS - Cloud9, OWL - London Spitfire
Non-Franchise Teams: CS: GO, Fortnite, Halo, Hearthstone, Rainbow 6, Super Smash Bros, Teamfight Tactics, Valorant, World of Warcraft
Owner: Jack and Paullie Etienne
Cloud9 or with its shorter name C9, is a Santa Monica, California-based esports organization, created by former Team SoloMid managers Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 2013, firstly with League of Legends.
On 6 September 2016, the team turned into an esports organization and got the name Cloud9 Esports. Thanks to venture capital funding, Cloud9 received $78 million in total and got second place in the Forbes list.
In March 2017, the organization received a total of 28 million funding from a lot of investors led by Founders Fund, including other investors such as former Facebok Inc. executive Chamath Palihapitiya and Reddit Inc. co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
In 2018, Cloud9 was able to win three international championships in different fields of esports. The tournaments were Rocket League Championship Series Season 6 World Championship, 2018 Overwatch League Grand Finals, and ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018.
In the same year, they got a sponsorship from Red Bull and they received $50 million in series B funding led by Valor Equity Partners.
Even though it was fined by Riot Games for violating LCS rules which cost $25.000 for each person in November 2019, Cloud9 was ranked by Forbes as the world’s most valuable company for that year.
3- Team Liquid
Value: $310 million
1-Year Change: -3%
Estimated Revenue: $28 million
Revenue From Esports: 89%
Franchise Teams: LCS - Team Liquid
Non-Franchise Teams: CS: GO, Dota 2, Fortnite, Hearthstone, PUBG, Rainbow 6, Super Smash Bros, StarCraft II, Valorant
Owner: aXiomatic Gaming, Victor Goossens, Steve Arhancet
Team Liquid or TL is a multi-regional professional esports organization which is based in the Netherlands, founded in 2000. It signed its first players with the publication of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.
In 2012, Team Liquid bought a North American Dota 2 team and started to be an organization that got a team on several fields.
In September 2016, Team Liquid’s controlling interest was sold to an investment group called aXiomatic Gaming, which includes Peter Guber, Ted Leonsis, Magic Johnson, and more.
4- FaZe Clan
Value: $305 million
1-Year Change: 27%
Estimated Revenue: $40 million
Revenue From Esports: 20%
Franchise Teams: CDL - Atlanta FaZe
Non-Franchise Teams: CS: GO, FIFA, Fortnite, PUBG, Rainbow 6, Valorant
Owner: Lee Trink, Richard Bengston (FaZe Banks), Thomas Oliveira (FaZe Temperrr), Yousef Abdelfattah (FaZe Apex), Nordan Shat (FaZe Rain)
FaZe Clan, or with its formal name FaZe Sniping, was founded on 30 May 2010 via YouTube by three Call of Duty players, based in Los Angeles, California.
When the YouTube channel got one million subscribers, the clan decided to go into esports competitions, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty, etc.
After their success in ESL Pro League Season 6-7 and ESL One Cologne 2018, FaZe Clan became the champion of ELeague CS: GO Premier in 2017, being also the winner of $500.000.
At the end of 2018, FaZe Clan opened a Series A funding round and managed to take investments from musicians such as Offset, Pitbull, Swae Lee, Yo Gotti, or basketball players Meyers Leonhard, Josh Hart, Ben Simmons, and more people from skateboarding and radio hosting industries.
In January 2020, they got a $22.7 million investment from Canadian financial company, Canaccord Genuity. The same year, it was worth $305 million.
5- 100 Thieves
Value: $190 million
1-Year Change: 19%
Estimated Revenue: $16 million
Revenue From Esports: 35%
Franchise Teams: LCS - 100 Thieves, CDL - Los Angeles Thieves
Non-Franchise Teams: Fortnite, Valorant
Owner: Matthew Haag, Drake, Scooter Braun, Dan Gilbert
100 Thieves is not only a gaming organization but also an American lifestyle brand that is based in Los Angeles, California.
The organization was founded in 2017 by the former Call of Duty team captain of OpTic Gaming. Following year, the founders list included the Canadian singer/rapper, Drake, and Scooter Braun, founder of SB Projects, who led a Series A investment for 100 Thieves.
6- Gen.G
Value: $185 million
1-Year Change: 0%
Estimated Revenue: $14 million
Revenue From Esports: 75%
Franchise Teams: LCK - Gen.G, NBA 2K League -Shanghai, OWL - Seoul Dynasty
Non-Franchise Teams: Fortnite (Team Bumble), Overwatch Contenders, PUBG, Valorant
Owner: Kevin Chou, Battery Ventures, Canaan Partners, NEA, Will Smith
Gen.G, or previously known as KSV Esports, is an esports organization that has headquarters in Santa Monica, Seoul, and Shanghai.
Gen.G Esports was formed in 2017 as KSV Esports by Kevin Chou and Kent Wakeford, co-founders of the video game development organization Kabam.
The corporation started by acquiring the rights for an Overwatch League franchise in Seoul, South Korea. The acquisition reportedly amounted to $20 million so that it will hire an all-Korean roster as well as an all-Korean management staff.
They were a part of 10 selected teams of League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) on 27 August 2020.
7- Enthusiast Gaming
Value: $180 million
1-Year Change: NR
Estimated Revenue: $95 million
Revenue From Esports: 6%
Franchise Teams: CDL - Seattle Surge, OWL - Vancouver Titans
Non-Franchise Teams: Apex, Fortnite, Madden, Valorant
Owner: Public company (TSX: EGLX)
Enthusiast Gaming was founded by Menashe Kestenbaum, a Canadian entrepreneur, based in Toronto, Canada.
The company went public on TSX Venture Exchange, which happened in October 2018.
In January 2020, Enthusiast Gaming moved its listing to the Toronto Stock Exchange while they also started to trade on Nasdaq, an international financial services company.
8- G2 Esports
Value: $175 million
1-Year Change: 6%
Estimated Revenue: $19 million
Revenue From Esports: 80%
Franchise Teams: League of Legends European Championship - G2
Non-Franchise Teams: CS: GO, Fortnite, Hearthstone, Rainbow 6, Rocket League, Sim Racing Valorant
Owner: Carlos Rodriguez, Jens Hilgers
G2 Esports or with its short name G2 and formal name Gamers2 is a Berlin-based European esports organization, which was founded by former League of Legends player Carlos “Ocelote” Rodriguez Santiago and investor Hens Hilgers on 24 February 2014.
They got a lot of wins in the League of Legends, 2016 Spring, 2016 Summer, 2017 Spring, and 2017 Summer EU LCS, the 2019 Spring LEC, the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, the 2019 Summer LEC, the 2020 Spring LEC and the 2020 Summer LEC.
Their Rainbow Six Siege team got wins on Six Major 2018 with $350.000, European Pro League Season 8, the Pro League Season 8 Finals, DreamHack Winter 2018, Six Invitational 2019.
9- NRG Esports
Value: $155 million
1-Year Change: 3%
Estimated Revenue: $20 million
Revenue From Esports: 25%
Franchise Teams: CDL - OpTic Chicago, OWL - San Francisco Shock
Non-Franchise Teams: Apex Legends, Fortnite, Rocket League, Valorant
Owner: Andy Miller, Mark Mastrov
Based in Los Angeles California, NRG Esports is an American professional esports organization with several streamers from Twitch, too.
In November 2015, It was founded by two co-owners of Sacramento Kings, Mark Mastrov and Andy Miller.
In March 2016, Alex Rodriguez, Shaquille O’Neal, and Jimmy Rollins made investments against NRG Esports.
On 24 August 2020, NRG Esports made a partnership with a Los-Angeles based media company, Shots Studios.
10- T1
Value: $150 million
1-Year Change: NR
Estimated Revenue: $15 million
Revenue From Esports: 60%
Franchise Teams: League of Legends Champions Korea - T1
Non-Franchise Teams: Apex Legends, Dota 2, Fortnite, Hearthstone, Overwatch Contenders, PUBG
Owner: Comcast Spectacor, SK Telecom
Previously known as SK Telecom T1 or mostly SKT T1, is a South Korean esports organization founded in 2003.
The team is famous for its League of Legends championships, both in their league (LCK) and in international areas.
They won League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) nine times while becoming the winner of the World Championship in 2013, 2015, and 2016, also being runner-up in 2017.
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